Virtuoso music instructor continues to improve his remarkable resume
Many are familiar with the controversial old saying “those who cannot do, teach,” which can be interpreted many ways. Irvine Valley College instructor John Schneiderman should be a symbol for all who think they agree with the previous statement, which in his case couldn’t be further from the truth.
Schneiderman continues to prove it wrong year after year, as he has done since age 12, when he began teaching others to play plucked instruments, such as guitar, banjo, mandolin, and others.
In addition to teaching at the college level since 1981, Schneiderman is also a member of the chamber ensembles Galanterie, and The Czar’s guitars. According to his Web site, he has performed with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Baroque, Philharmonic Baroque Orchestra, Chanticleer, Musica Pacifica and the American Bach Soloists, to name just a few.
Schneiderman added another item to his list of accomplishments when he was chosen to be editorial advisor for the fourth edition of the world-renowned text “Solo Guitar Playing,” by British guitar master Frederick M. Noad.
“It is an honor to be editorial advisor for the fourth edition of ‘Solo Guitar Playing,’ a book used by hundreds of thousands of guitarists worldwide,” Schneiderman wrote in his preface to the book.
Schneiderman studied under Noad from 1974 to 1978.
“[This] was my second editorial project,” Schneiderman said. “In 2007, I edited a three-volume edition of the ‘Six Concertante Duos for Two Guitars Op.17′ by Francois de Fossa, based on the string quartets by Enrique Ataide y Portugal.”
Schneiderman, who is currently a faculty member at IVC and Orange Coast College, plus the head of guitar and lute studies at the University of California, Irvine, uses “Solo Guitar Playing” in every guitar class he teaches. This includes his beginning, intermediate, and advanced classical guitar classes at IVC.
“[It] is a text used at many colleges and universities,” Schneiderman said. “It has been the best-selling classical guitar method book in print since 1968. It is translated into thirteen languages.”
If it isn’t broke, why fix it, right?
“I have been studying and teaching out of ‘Solo Guitar Playing’ since its first publication in 1968,” Schneiderman said. “Many of my students have completed undergraduate and graduate degrees. Several now teach at the college level, numerous others teach privately, many perform, and some have commercially released CDs.”
For those interested, selected music from Fossa’s “Six Concertante Duos” will be performed at the IVC Guitar Ensemble on Friday, May 8, at the IVC Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Tickets are available through IVC online or at the Performing Arts Center box office.