@amherst.eduProfessional and Biographical Information
Degrees
Ph.D. University of Chicago (2013)
B.A. Amherst College (2006)
Introduction
Dylan Schneider is recognized as a leading voice among today’s generation of composers. His work, praised for its innovative structure and dramatic flair, has drawn an international audience and has been performed by Grammy-Award-winning ensembles such as Eighth Blackbird, the Pacifica String Quartet, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2022, Schneider served as Distinguished Composer in Residence at the Seal Bay Music Festival, where his string quartet, GOES A-H-H-H, inspired by a lyric from the song “The Girl from Ipanema,” was performed 13 times by the world-renowned Cassatt String Quartet.
His latest opera, STRIP-TEASE, a surreal critique of the modus operandi of totalitarianism, received its premiere at Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts. An active pianist, Schneider’s music pioneers a new frontier in performance, traversing the diversity of human experience with a sense of lyricism and play.
GOES A-H-H-H – Cassatt String Quartet
Box of Surprises – Dylan Schneider, piano
Strip-Tease – Interview on latest opera
Hear/Act – Schneider discusses an installation project
Awards and Honors
Distinguished Composer in Residence – Seal Bay Chamber Music Festival, Maine (2022)
Composer in Residence – I/O International Contemporary Music Festival, Williams College (2019)
Guest Composer – Five College New Music Festival, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2019)
ASCAP Plus Award – for Piano Quintet, Toccata for Cello & Piano (2013)
Mellon Foundation Dissertation-Year Award, University of Chicago (2012-2013)
Opera Production Award from The University of Chicago Arts Council (2013)
Guest composer, Thailand International Composition Festival (2012)
Regional Winner, 2012 SCI/ASCAP Student Composition Commission (2012)
Thailand International Composition Competition, Finalist (2011)
Lowell C. Wadmond grant recipient (2011, 2012)
Century Doctoral Scholar Award, The University of Chicago (2007-2012)
The Edward Poole Lay Fellowship (2006, 2007, 2008)
The Eric Edward Sundquist Prize for outstanding thesis in Music Composition (2006)
European-American Musical Alliance, grant for composition study in Paris (2006)
Magna cum laude, Amherst College (2006)
Phi Beta Kappa, Amherst College (2006)
Alpha Delta Phi Fund, grant for production of Schneider’s opera (2006)
Mellon Fellowship in Music, Global Sound Initiative, Amherst College (2005)
President Tom Gerety Fellowship for Action, Amherst College (2004)
Lorene Lobner Keena Scholarship (2002, 2003, 2004)
Robert C. Byrd Honors Award (2002)
Alonzo Hazen Award (2002)
The Bob Dings Memorial Scholarship (2002)
Governor’s Award, The State of California (2002)
Scholarly and Professional Activities
Visiting Lecturer, Marlboro College (2017)
Visiting Lecturer, Smith College (2015, 2016)
Lecturer, University of Chicago (2010-2013)