Maria Schneider and UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra

Maria Schneider is this year’s recipient of the Rolf Schock Prize. A highly acclaimed American composer and bandleader, she is best known for her own ensemble, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, featuring some of New York’s leading jazz musicians. Over the years, she has emerged as both an innovator and a formative voice within the big band tradition. On this occasion, she performs with the Finnish UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra.

Maria Schneider has developed a distinctly personal musical voice in the lineage of Gil Evans and Duke Ellington. Her extensive output spans several decades and includes collaborations with Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the American Dance Festival and David Bowie. She is one of the few artists to have received Grammy Awards in multiple genres, including jazz and classical.

UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra is Finland’s only professional big band. With 16 top-level musicians and some 80 concerts annually in Finland and internationally, the ensemble offers a wide-ranging repertoire from jazz to soul and classical – often in unexpected combinations. Founded in 1975, the orchestra has recorded more than 60 albums and celebrates its 50th anniversary in the 2025–2026 season.

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The Rolf Schock Prizes are international awards presented in the fields of logic and philosophy, mathematics, visual arts and musical arts. The music laureates are nominated by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Rolf Schock (1933–1986), a Swedish-American philosopher, left a significant fortune upon his death, specifying in his will that half of his estate should be used to fund prizes in the four disciplines. The prize sum for each category in 2026 is SEK 600,000. The awards will be presented on 8 June at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.

The jury’s citation reads:
“Maria Schneider is awarded the 2026 Rolf Schock Prize for her unique and innovative artistry, in which her compositions unite humility, formal clarity and a deeply personal expression. Through her internationally influential work and her important advocacy for musicians’ rights, she serves as a central role model and source of inspiration for new generations within the art form of jazz.”

Maria Schneider comments:
“Receiving the Rolf Schock Prize is deeply meaningful to me. Sweden was the first country to truly embrace my music. This recognition feels like a return to a place that shaped both my artistic life and my understanding of what a society can be when culture is highly valued.”