Composer-pianist-arranger Maria Schneider left Minnesota in 1985 to pursue her passion for music in New York, quickly accumulating valuable experience under the tutelage of jazz greats Bob Brookmeyer and Gil Evans. In 1993, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra was born, allowing her to explore orchestral possibilities in jazz while redefining the sound of large ensemble music. Her first three albums from 1994 to 2000 all garnered Grammy nominations. In 2004, Concert in the Garden was the first internet-sales only album to win a Grammy for Best Large Ensemble. With the release of Sky Blue in 2007, featuring trumpet player Ingrid Jensen and clarinet player Scott Robinson, she took home another Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition.