Dennis L. Schneider, 84, of Lincoln, professor emeritus of trumpet, died Feb. 3.
Schneider worked for 36 years as a faculty member in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Music. He was hired in 1961 as instructor of brass instruments after three years as band director in the Falls City, Nebraska, public school district. He retired from UNL in 1997 as full professor.
Schneider was born April 12, 1931 in McCook, Neb., to Fred and Rose (Meehan) Schneider. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1949 and earned a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Nebraska in 1952 and a Master of Music in education from Indiana University in 1958.
An Air Force veteran, Schneider married Judith Overgaard on June 6, 1953.
During his UNL tenure, Schneider founded and directed the UNL Jazz Ensemble, which played at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He also appeared often as a featured performer, panelist and lecturer at the annual conventions of the International Trumpet Guild and frequently served as an adjudicator and clinician in music festivals throughout the state of Nebraska and nationwide.
In 1986, he received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences, and in 1995, he received one from the College of Fine and Performing Arts. In 1992 he received a Mayor’s Arts Award. Many of his former students now hold responsible performing and teaching positions throughout the nation, and several have been national and international winners in major competitions.
He previously served as a principal trumpet with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, Opera Omaha, the Cabrillo (California) Festival Orchestra and performed several times as a member of the trumpet section with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He was also a performer and recording artist with the Summer Brass Festival in Colorado and past president of the Lincoln Musicians Association.
Schneider was an avid golfer (even scoring two holes-in-one in the same week), an amateur photographer, licensed pilot, fly fisherman and gardener.
He is survived by wife of 62 years, Judith; daughters, Cecelia “Cece” (Brian) Norton, of Omaha, and Elizabeth “Buffy” Hastreiter, Elkhorn; sons, D. Michael “Mike” (Jean) Schneider, Boise, Idaho, and William “Bill” (Vera) Schneider, Lincoln; 12 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; brothers, Stan (Sheila) Schneider, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Fred (Joyce) Schneider, Tucson, Ariz. Preceded in death by parents; son, Joseph; and brother, Don.
Memorials are requested to the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, 233 S. 13th St., No. 1702, Lincoln, NE 68508.
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