Berk Schneider

Berk Schneider, trombone, is a performer and educator born in Madison, Wisconsin. Berk earned his M.M. from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory where he studied with James DeSano. As a professional he has developed his goal to serve as an advocate for the arts through creative performances that resonate with a 21st century audience, interactive community outreach, and education that reflects both the timehonored traditions of western classical music and the realities facing today’s young musicians.
His musical experiences have taken him across the globe, from Saint Peters Basilica, Vatican City with the Orchestra of the Americas performing a Mozart Mass under the direction of Helmuth Rilling, to Carnegie Hall with Maestro Valery Gergiev and Ravel's Bolero. Berk has toured the Western Hemisphere extensively, teaching and performing in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay with the Orchestra of the Americas directed by Carlos Miguel Prieto. In the United States, Berk has performed with the Akron, Brazosport, and Youngstown Symphony Orchestras in Ohio and Texas and the Aspen Festival Orchestra, directed by David Zinman and Robert Spano. He has also played bass trombone for Carl Topilow and the Firelands Symphony Orchestra during its 2009-2010 season. In the spring of 2010 he was selected as a finalist in the International Trombone Association Marsteller Competition and was a substitute musician for the Houston Symphony from 2010-2014.


As an avid contemporary musician Berk has commissioned and performed many new creative works. Collaborations include “Catch” by Kevin Dee and “Pink to Blue” by Ryan Lester (2010-2012). A grant awarded to him by the Hilda and Hershel Rich Family Endowment for Student Community Service funded the premier of "Procession," a trombone concerto by Seung-ah Oh, recipient of the Buma Toonzetters Prize. In addition he has composed and performed his own music in collaboration with Houston based Da Camera of Houston, Two Star Symphony, and the Shepherd School Composers Outside the Lines:An Un-Concert. In Europe Berk has performed at the Darmstadt Summer Course and with Ensemble Modern in Klangspuren and the Kurt Weill Festival. He also made a solo appearance during Studio Libeskinds "One day in Life" concert series, performing Berios "Sequenza V" in Frankfurt.


Berk is an avid educator and supporter of creative teaching methods. Many of his students have gone on to pursue music professionally. Berk hopes on returning to Ecuador soon to teach with the Sociedad Fondo Jovenes Talentos in Guayaquil and perform the Tomasi Trombone Concerto.
He recently finishing his studies at the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) in Frankfurt and looks forward to playing "Antipoden" for trombone and ensemble by Gerald Resch with Ensemble Zeitfluss in Graz, Austria. He is currently working with Benjamin Meyers and his premier of "Seven Against Theben/Antigone" at Schauspiel Frankfurt.