Randall Snyder is a composer and jazz musician living in Lincoln, NE. and teaches at Peru State College. He was born in Chicago in 1944 and studied saxophone with his father, a professional jazz musician. In high school he received a scholarship to the Stan Kenton Band Camp and in 1962 was honored with a Downbeat magazine Student Hall of Fame award. He attended Quincy College and the University of Wisconsin, receiving a Ph.D. degree in 1973. He has also received fellowships to study Korean music at the Traditional Performing Arts Institute in Seoul. Snyder has taught courses in jazz, ethnomusicology and rock and roll at UNL. Some 100 of his of pieces have been published, with several commercially recorded. His orchestral and chamber music has won several composition contest prizes and in 1992 Snyder was the recipient of an NEA grant as composer-in-residence with the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. His music has been played by various chamber ensembles, symphonies and jazz orchestras. The Nebraska Arts Council has given him several fellowships. He also has been active as a jazz performer, appearing as bassist in two documentary films with Kansas City pianist Jay McShann.
