Daniel Schnyder

Saxophone & Composer in Residence 2026

​

The Swiss-American composer and saxophonist Daniel Schnyder was born in 1961 in Zurich and lives in New York. Throughout his career, he has received commissions from major international orchestras and institutions, including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York, the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Vienna, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Bern Opera, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, and many others.

His album Absolution, featuring the Bass Trombone Concerto, received a Grammy nomination in 2002 in the category “Best Classical Small Ensemble Recording.” In addition, his Brass Trio won first prize at the International Trumpet Guild composition competition in 1996.

As a performer, Schnyder frequently appears in a chamber music project that combines saxophone and string quartet, blending composition and improvisation, jazz and traditional chamber music. His chamber works are performed and recorded worldwide.

He has collaborated as a composer and producer with internationally renowned jazz artists such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Lee Konitz, and Paquito D’Rivera. He has also worked with musicians from various cultural traditions, integrating elements of Arabic and Chinese music with jazz and classical music.

Among his best-known works are the opera Abraham, first performed in Düsseldorf in 2014 and later in Jerusalem, and Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, commissioned by Opera Philadelphia and premiered in 2015, later performed in several U.S. cities and in London.

He has composed innovative concertos for traditional and ethnic instruments, including a Pipa Concerto, a Ney Concerto, and a Swiss Alphorn Concerto, all of which were very well received by audiences and critics.

His symphonic work Sundiata Keita, for large orchestra, choir, and four soloists from Mali, was successfully performed at the Berlin Philharmonic during his residency with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010.

Schnyder has received numerous awards from international organizations dedicated to chamber music and wind instruments, as well as from the City of Zurich, Pro Helvetia, and other important cultural institutions in Switzerland and the United States.

He regularly teaches masterclasses in composition, chamber music, improvisation, and saxophone at institutions such as the Stuttgart University of Music, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic, and the Bruckner University in Linz.

In recent years, he has continued composing new orchestral and chamber works and founded the Worlds Beyond Orchestra, an ensemble dedicated to expanding the classical concert experience through new musical and artistic languages.

Daniel Schnyder is considered one of the most versatile and prolific contemporary composers, moving effortlessly between classical music, jazz, improvisation, and musical traditions from around the world.

www.danielschnyder.com

​

He played in the following projects:

#LMF26: 23 September 2026

#LMF26: 24 September 2026

#LMF26: 25 September 2026

#LMF26: 26 September 2026

​