Julian Schneemann

Julian Schneemann (1992) was raised by classical musicians, educated by jazz masters and surrounded by popular culture. Working with musicians from all over the globe, he learned from all kinds of cultures, like Arabic, African, South American and Indian.  All these influences have been formative for his musical identity and in his imaginative piano playing and composing, Julian likes to exploit this diversity.

In 2011, Julian won the composition prize “Op weg naar het Nieuwjaarsconcert”. He studied jazz piano at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2015, and in that same year released his debut album Roundabout. The album, described by Allaboutjazz.com as “An integral, coherent artistic statement” brought the worlds of classical, jazz and pop music together into a single story, and was internationally well-acclaimed. In 2016, Julian released the album FLY with the ensemble Ikarai, which tells the story of Icarus in sound. FLY was described as “A journey I can recommend to anyone” by Dutch TV-host Tijl Beckand.

Besides his activities as a pianist and composer in his own groups, Julian is also working as a pianist, keyboard player, arranger and composer for other bands and ensembles. He plays piano and keyboards with pop artists such as GOSTO and Angelo Boltini. He worked for among others the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, for whom he wrote countless arrangements in different styles, ranging from classical, to world music and pop. Several of his compositions were played by the NBE at their famous annual New Year’s Concerts, broadcasted live on TV from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.In 2018 Julian received a commission from the Grachtenfestival and premiered the resulting composition, Ode to Tomorrow at the festival.

Currently, Julian’s main focus is on his project Caravan: A journey through the worlds of classical, jazz and folk. Since the start of the project in 2017, the group has played at the great stages in the Netherlands, like the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Paradiso, De Doelen and the Bimhuis, and festivals like the Grachtenfestival and November Music. The group played live on national TV and performed their music on radio several times. Their debut album Caravan was well received and described as: “World fusion at its best – melancholic, uplifting, adventurous, exciting and above all breathtakingly beautiful”. In 2019, three very special singers with Namibian, Indian and Syrian roots will join the caravan, and the new children’s theater show Caravan will be staged, in cooperation with Oorkaan.