Joey Schneider
Composer & Trumpeter

Marin School of the Arts student Joey Schneider, who resides in Novato, California, is cited as the first and only “unknown” jazz musician to be featured on VH1.com along with jazz greats such as Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane. But unlike these other musicians, Joey is only 16 years old.

Joey’s status as an “unknown” musician will soon come to an end. This year, Joey introduced his second original CD, called “Signature”, which includes ten of his own original compositions. Joey plays the Trumpet and Flugelhorn on the recordings. Morning commuters can also hear one of Joey’s original songs, some of which include “Stepping Stone”, “Rainwalk”, or “Blue Lotus”, playing on the Bay Area’s jazz station KCSM 91.1.

Schneider has been stacking up the awards for several years now. He was recently bestowed the ASCAP Foundation’s Young Jazz Composer Award for his original jazz composition, earning a $1,500 cash prize. The ASCAP Award is open to composers between the ages of 15 and 30. At age 15, Joey was the youngest honoree to ever have received this award.

In early 2004, Schneider was selected by “Downbeat” Magazine as one of the top two high school jazz musicians in the country.

He has also won numerous awards at high school band competitions, earning cash and scholarships, including a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. Last month, Joey was one of the few young musicians to be invited to perform at the world-renowned Monterey Jazz Festival. He played to a sold-out crowd and received a standing ovation for his efforts.

Schneider’s interest in music began at age 10 when he joined the San Ramon Elementary School music program in Novato. He then performed with the Sinaloa Middle School Jazz Band under the direction of Max Perkoff, and later, Jason Eckyl. Within just 6-months of taking up the Trumpet, Joey began writing his own music. Today, Joey will be the first to tell you that his main instrument, the Trumpet, along with the Piano, are just the “tools” he requires to pursue his true passion: the creation of his own musical environment. Joey studies with two private instructors; Doug Morton and Joe Allessi for classical trumpet and composition.

Last year, Joey was accepted into the Marin School of the Arts music program, and he continues to perform with the San Francisco Jazz All-Stars, a high school ensemble consisting of award-winning high school performers in the Bay Area.

At 5:30 a.m. each school day morning, Schneider rises to the beeping of his alarm clock, where he then spends a full 2 hours practicing before school begins at 8:15 a.m. Because of the early morning hour, Joey uses a silent brass. After 2 more hours of music at the Marin School of the Arts, he then spends the remainder of the afternoon composing music. Yet somehow, Joey still carves out time for his other interests: fly fishing, hiking and drawing. One place won’t find Joey these days is on the baseball field – this is a sport he gave up three years ago to focus on music.

As a solo Trumpeter for the Marin School of the Arts Jazz Band, conducted by Mark Peabody, Joey sets a fine example for the other musicians. He makes them all believe that, with a lot of hard work and a stroke of talent, greatness and fame could be just on the horizon.