“Schneider’s solo set was the highlight of the concert… [Beyond 2020 Festival] Schneider rotated primarily between two acoustic guitars specially adapted to microtonality, including the fretless “Partch Adapted Guitar II” and steel-bodied National Resophonic with an intricately customized fretboard. He performed several of his own compositions alongside those of Lou Harrison and Harry Partch. While these performances were infused with a moderately intellectual character, Schneider’s warm and inviting performances made short work of illustrating the unexpected familiarity of microtonality in even the most common forms of music. The use of a slide and metered recitation of haunting poetry conjured the essence of blues and folk as the complexity of the compositions ascended into an ethereal halo within the space.” — I Care If You Listen
"Lou Harrison’s tender Suite No.2 for microtonal guitars, skillfully played by John Schneider, made you forget all about the concept and listen to the music. Its mixture of the Spanish-inflected dances & elegies with the slightly ‘off’ quality of the pungent microtonal harmonies, echoing in the reverberant chapel, was a delight.” — New York Times
“Of a caliber that kept this listener in a state of continual astonishment" — LA Times
“Funny, moving, inventive and insanely theatrical…an unforgettable performance.” — San Francisco Chronicle
"Microtonalist Maven — Wall Street Journal
"Schneider creates elegant dynamic levels and layers on his solo guitar, and he always projects the poetry of the music…performs with such elegance and élan as to put one's reservations quite beyond the pale. . .A delight, a treat, and, for those who care, an education (or a basis for debate)." — Fanfare
Performances are stunningly expressive and miracles of pitch control. " — in Tune (Tokyo)
“Guitar recordings come thick and furious each month, and most are so much alike that ‘been there, heard that’ hardly begins to describe them; but Schneider's discs are something special, and certainly worth the wait.” — David Hurwitz, Classics Today
"It was Microtonal Heaven" — Denver Advocate
"Truly magical. . .the superb musicianship should remain enchanting long after neophyte's ears have adjusted to the new tonality." — Los Angeles Reader
"World-class tribute....(PARTCH Ensemble) managed their exotic gadgetry with appealing skill.... John Schneider - guitarist, composer, baritone, microtonal guru…delivered a pretty good facsimile of the old boy’s stentorian growl… As long as there are John Schneiders to recreate passably the sounds of Partch, we'll have a tenuous grip on this unique byway in the annals of American innovation" — Alan Rich, LA Weekly
"Thoroughly conversant with the idiom of contemporary music...performed with confidence, relish and a commendable degree of technical polish...a brilliant display of timbres and sonorities of the instrument...the range of tone colours achieved seemed to be immense - constantly changing and with a fascinating and almost sensual appeal." — Birmingham Post (UK)
“Microtonal guitarist John Schneider, slapping an endless series of interchangeable fretboards on his axe, started us out with a 100-minute introduction to the history of tuning that hit every salient point, made every principle clear, demonstrated every nuance beautifully on the guitar, and was thoroughly delightful and entertaining. If you ever need a lecturer on this topic, he's your man.” – Kyle Gann, PostClassic