John Schneiderman - Johann Kropfgans: Lute Concerto; Sonatas & Divertimentos (2005)

Galanterie made their concert and radio debut in October 1990 at the Bing Theater of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Playing on period instruments, Trio Galanterie performs music from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. They have concentrated on the music for obbligato lute and strings that flourished in Germany in the late eighteenth century. The groups aim is to present this music as it was originally heard. The gut strings of the violin and cello blend much more readily with the lute than the steel strung instruments of today.

This album marks reflects the groups desire to spread the knowledge of this largely unknown yet highly substantial repertoire.

Critically acclaimed virtuoso of plucked instruments since age nine, John Schneiderman specializes in the performance practice and repertoire of eighteenth-century lutes and nineteenth-century guitars. Based in California, Mr. Schneiderman is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician collaborating on recordings and performances throughout North America.

Beginning his performance career as a banjo, guitar, bass and fiddle player, the young Schneiderman was a familiar face on the stages of bluegrass and folk festivals throughout California. He continues his interest in early American music performing traditional Appalachian fiddle tunes in a clawhammer style on the five-string banjo.

Mr. Schneiderman studied with British guitar pedagogue and author Frederick Noad, and continued his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, with the great modern pioneer of the baroque lute, Eugen Dombois. Mr. Dombois' precise and detailed approach to the repertoire continues notably to influence Schneiderman's interpretations today.

He is a member of the chamber ensembles Galanterie and The Czar's Guitars, and has performed with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Seattle Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Chanticleer, Musica Pacifica and the American Bach Soloists. His extensive discography, much of it rarely or never before recorded lute and guitar music, includes CDs on the Titanic, AudioQuest, Dorian, Centaur, VGo and Profil:Edition Guenter Haenssler labels. Mr. Schneiderman is currently on the faculties of the University of California at Irvine, Irvine Valley College and Orange Coast College, and has been on the faculties of the California State University at Long Beach and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.