About me (CV)

Richard Schneider was born in Braunschweig (Germany) on the 25th of April, 1974. He has lived in Central Switzerland since the year 2000 as a Swiss citizen.

He is professional guitar player, teacher, bandoneón player and concert organizer.

His  8 string guitars are made by Luciano Lovadina and Ricardo Louzao. 

He performed in numerous concerts and International guitar festivals among others in “Guitarras del Mundo” (Buenos Aires/ Argentina), "Guitarras del mundo" (Biel/ Switzerland), “Eurofestival Zupfmusik” (Bruchsal & Bamberg, Germany), "Entre cuerdas" (Santiago de Chile). 

Concerts undertaken in Belgium, Wales, Serbia, Romania, Moldavia, Hungary, Russia, Netherlands, Germany, Argentina, Chile and USA. In Switzerland he has been acting at the Tangowoche Zurich, Landesmuseum Zürich (State Museum of Zurich), KKL Luzern among others. 

                                                                                                                                  Richard Schneider received his first classic guitar lessons from his father which was then followed by choral activities before he turned towards the jazz guitar, taking private classes. After graduating at the Städtische Musikschule Braunschweig (Municipal Music School of Brunswick), he studied the jazz-guitar and instrumental pedagogic at the Musikhochschule Köln (Music University of Cologne), graduating in 1998 with diploma. At the same time as he started studying, he became a member of the tutoring institution Jugendjazzorchester Niedersachsen (Youth Jazz Orchestra Lower Saxony) under the direction of Bernhard Mergner and the Bundesjazzorchester (Federal Jazz Orchestra) under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer. His Jazz guitar teachers were Dietmar Osterburg, Eddy Marron and Werner Neumann. He received further training by the guitar players Andreas Becker, Joachim Schütte, Thomas Brendgens-Mönkemeier, Frank Nimsgern, Peter O´Mara, Uwe Kropinski, John Stowell and Frank Haunschild and by other instrumentalists like Otto Wolters, Michael Küttner, Martin Classen, Cees Kranenburg, Bruno Castelucci, Tom van der Geld, Manfred Schoof, John Ruocco, Thomas Stabenow, Kenny Werner, Walter Norris, Mike Richmond and David Liebman. Following his interest in music from different cultures he learned to play the Turkish stringed instrument Baglama. 

His fascination for Argentinean music took him to Buenos Aires, where he studied guitar in the subjects tango, traditional folk music and jazz at the “Escuela de música popular de Avellaneda“. He also took lessons in classical guitar and Argentinean music at the “Conservatorio superior de música Manuel de Falla”. In Argentina, among his teachers were the guitar players Osvaldo Burucuá, Javier Cohen, José Verdi, Hugo Romero and Aníbal Arias. 

After moving to Switzerland, Richard Schneider got classical guitar studies with Jury Clorman and Frank Bungarten and participated master classes and Workshops with David Russell, Hopkinson Smith, Alvaro Pierri, Carle Domeniconi, Anielle Desiderio and Ralph Towner. He also had bandoneon lessons with Michael Zisman. 

Besides working as jazz-guitarist and composer, Richard Schneider has dedicated an increasing amount of time to the classic guitar and South American music and is working as an arranger. Before working as a full-time guitarist, Richard Schneider won first prize in the two band-competitions “Winning Jazz” and “Jugend kulturell” (youth cultural) in Hanover and received awards for the best junior-ensemble of Northern Germany. He has been giving concerts containing original compositions with different groups in Northern Germany and the Netherlands. Being the official representative for the best German junior guitarists, he was chosen for the Youth All Star Big Band des Hessischen Rundfunks (radio broadcast Hesse) twice in a row (Artistic direction: Bob Florence and Phil Wilson). During some totally improvised music-concerts he made contact with celebrities such as the saxophone player Mathias Schubert and the pianist Georg Gräwe. Poems from Ernst Jandl, William Bourroughs and Julio Cortázar set to contemporary music by composer Hannes Seidl and live-electronic player Joker Nies caused him to embark upon several concert tours. He has participated as a guest musician in the production of sound carriers like the Chilean CD-fusion “Luis Cheul & Band,” in the children’s musical "Im Land der Buntgemischten,” and on tours and in broadcasted productions of other musicians work (Anke Parghel, Robert Lingnau Jazz Orchestra among others). He has also made several tours in other countries, on behalf of the Goethe-Institute and the German Secretary of State, to Romania and Moldavia and two tours to the United States. In 1995, Richard Schneider founded the trio Flutango, having written all the arrangements. Flutango made many noteworthy performances in Germany and was also hired for concerts in Buenos Aires. Since 1999 he has been working as a solo-guitarist with self arranged titles from both traditional Argentinean traditional and tango guitar music. 

Since founding the Ramos-Schneider Duet with his Ex-wife Violeta Ramos, Richard Schneider has dedicated himself mainly to a popular repertoire of instrumentation with the South American harp, comprising modern arrangements of pieces from different styles and original compositions. Performing for only a few months, the duo was engaged by the Serbian concert promoter Yugoconcert to make guest appearances in prominent places such as Belgrade, Novi Sad and Zrenjanin. In Buenos Aires, the duo was regularly performing in concert halls like the Teatro Hugo de Carril, Casa del Chaco and others . 

Richard Schneider has participated in different radio productions in Argentina, Paraguay, Romania (also TV), Denmark, Switzerland and Germany (NDR, WDR, SR, HR, Rias). His own CD recordings include “translucide: Persistence” (modern jazz), “Flutango: Mi Buenos Aires Querido” (tango), “Duo Ramos-Schneider: Tango y Folklore & 37 plus 8 strings) and "Richard Schneider: Solo en guitarra y Bandoneón". 

Richard Schneider has shared the stage with the Göttinger Symphonieorchester, Manfred Schoof, Pete York, Rubén Tolosa, Ramón Ayala, Su Fengxia, Andrew Lawrence King and many others. He performed with Patricia Parada, Nacho Abad, Marcela Arroyo, Beat Föllmi, Christine Kessler, Reinhard Ormanns, Peter Gneist, Fides auf der Maur, Miguel Fernandez, and many others. 

Festival Performances include International Guitar Festival "Guitarras del mundo" Buenos Aires, "Guitarras del mundo" Biel (Switzerland), "Entre cuerdas" Santiago de Chile, Harfentreffen Richterswil, European Harp Symposium Cardiff (UK), World Harp Congress Amsterdam (Netherlands), Chamber Music Festival Brunswick, International Harp Festival Lommel (Belgium), Eurofestival for Mandolin and Guitar (Bamberg & Bruchsal/Germany), Jazz-Week Hanover, Lower Saxony Jazz Festival, Hessen Jazz-Festival, Festival der Café- und Salonhausmusik, Jazz-Festival Galati (Romania), International Conference of Jazz Educators (Atlanta/USA), World Music Festival Solothurn, Tangowoche Zürich and others. 

Concerts have been performed at venues at the Landesmuseum Braunschweig (State Museum Brunswick), the Stadthalle Braunschweig (town hall of Brunswick), the Staatstheater kleines Haus (State Theatre’s little house) in Braunschweig, the big NDR broadcast hall of Hannover, the EXPO 2000 in Hannover, the Schauspielhaus Hannover (theatre of Hanover), the NDR small broadcasting studio of Hamburg, the Volkshochschule (adult educational institute) of Stuttgart, the jazz-clubs B-flat and A-train in Berlin, the Kulturfabrik Berlin, the Reisemesse (travel fair) in Köln (Cologne), the Jazzkeller Frankfurt, the major broadcasting studio of the Hessischer Rundfunk (Hesse radio broadcast) in Frankfurt (all Germany), the Bimhuis jazz club and Musiekgebouw in Amsterdam (Netherlands), the Wales Millenium Center (UK), the University of Miami, the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Atlanta (U.S.A), the Philharmonie Chisinew (Moldavia), the Sala Filarmonicii in Iasi, the Philharmonie Klausenburg, the Musiklyceum Temesvar, the major broadcasting studio of the Romanian radio in Bucharest (Romania), the Casa Paraguaya, the Casa del Chaco, the Esquina Osvaldo Pugliese, the Porto Abasto, Centro Cultural Berazategui and the Teatro Hugo de Carril (all Buenos Aires, Argentina), the Kulturzentrum deAdelberg (Belgium). Concerts given in Switzerland have taken place in the Unique airport (Zürich), Burgbachsaal & Burgbachkeller (Zug), Casino (Zug), Gewürzmühle & Galerie deArtis (Zug), Gottfried Keller Zentrum (Glattfelden), Schloss Überstorf, Schloss Haldenstein, Museum für Kommunikation (Bern), State Museum (Zürich), Grand Hotel Bellevue (Gstaad), Hotel Edelweiss (Sils-Maria), KKL (Luzern) and many more.

As a music teacher, Richard Schneider gave workshops in Germany, Hungary and the United States. He taught at different music schools in Germany, including the Musikschule Wiehl and the Jazz Haus Schule Köln. In Switzerland he worked as teacher in institutions such as the Rudolf Steiner Schule Baar and Musikschule Knonauer Amt. Actually, he is teaching at Musikschule Dottikon, Musikschule Region Baden, Musikschule Neuheim and Musikschule Menzingen. 

In 2002, Richard Schneider founded an own music school “stimmen.voices.voces del mundo” in the centre of the old town of Zug. Within his role as producer, he have organized on his premises more than 30 concerts with professional musicians of varied approaches, among others, concerts with national south american guitar representatives such as Luz Maria Bobadilla (Paraguay), Juan Falú and Quique Sinesi (Argentina)

Press

This guitarist and head of music school from Zug bequeathed the audience with a wonderfully intimate master-concert... (Neue Zuger Zeitung)

The interpretations harmonize the improvisations with the influences of modern chamber music, they become fused together in an original way with complex acoustic structures, without the compositions loosing their essence, rhythm and originality. (Ñane retã, Asunción/Buenos Aires)

Discépolo once said that the Argentinean tango “is a sad thought that can be danced.” Schneider can put it into music. (Neue Zuger Zeitung)

The technically polished and virtuoso passages, as well as the stretched dynamic suspense, emphasize the flow of the fascinating individual interpretations. (Hessisches Staatsbad Bad Wildungen)

The German group which conquered Argentina! (Esquina Osvaldo Pugliese, Buenos Aires)

The way Schneider expresses his music in an intimate and fruitful combination of the soloist’s artistic insight with his personal relation to the Argentinean tango becomes an in depth experience for the audience. This insight is reflected in the extremely careful arrangements that emerge as small architectural musical masterpieces. The way Schneider thoroughly sounds out the original is equal to the way in which he fully exploits the potential of his guitar. That he obliges himself to exercise a technically high standard of performance is no disadvantage for this skilled and virtuoso musician. (Neue Zuger Zeitung)

All the pieces are striking with musical perfection, a successful symmetry between concert performance and improvised play. Ingenuity, the power of expression, a fascinating control over the instrument and the ability for diverse creation were characteristic features of all solos. (Zweibrücker Rundschau)

The selection and individual arrangement of the works and the unmistakably independent character of the group’s tone are absolutely fascinating and could enthral the audience during many performances and festivals. The players created a fascinating and unusual timbre, convincing with its light and atmospheric sound. (Kunst- und Kulturgemeinde Langen)

At present, one of the most interesting groups on the German market! (Deister- und Weserzeitung)

An affable welcome, excellent and professional playing. (Neue Zuger Zeitung)

The advantages of playing at home with a certain instinct. (Braunschweiger Zeitung)

An absolutely perfect performance, voluminous timbre and extensive imaginativeness created with great enthusiasm. (Wunstorfer Stadtanzeiger)

The jury, consisting of 6 persons, and the audience were equally fascinated by the modern, original and perfect compositions. (Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung)

Despite the specialization regarding the instruments, both musicians maintained an incredible stylistic range. (Neue Zuger Zeitung)

The rhythm-group with Richard Schneider (e-guitar) was a dream answered. Complicated contrary rhythms, changes of speed and bars, dynamics and variables were achieved without difficulty. (Braunschweiger Zeitung)

-The halls and fashionable bars are packed, they click, the jazz-versed audience enthusiasts over the fresh and melancholic blues tones, full of rough edges and corners and the perfect soloist with incredibly hot jazz. (Deister- und Weserzeitung)