Norbert Jürgen Schneider was born in Weil on the Rhine on 25 Mai 1950. In 1988, he had his name legally changed to Enjott Schneider.

In his youth, he learned to play numerous instruments, such as the violin, the piano, the accordion, the trumpet and the organ. At the age of nineteen, he took up the post of organist in the French town of Huningue, from 1975 in Hinterzarten (Black Forest). But he also worked as a conductor as well as singer and keyboarder of the pop group ’Kaktus’.

In 1969 he began to study music theory, school music, organ and trumpet at the Freiburg Musikhochschule as well as musicology, German studies and linguistics at the local university where he earned a Ph.D. in 1977 under the direction of Hans-Heinrich Eggebrecht. In the following years, he held temporary lectureships at the University of Freiburg in Composition and Musicology, among others, and was appointed Professor of Music Theory at the Munich Hochschule für Musik in 1979.

Since then, Enjott Schneider has published numerous writings, including the book ’Popmusik’, more than 400 articles for dictionaries and encyclopedias, contributions to the Hindemith Yearbooks and monographs on works. His publications cover the fields of music theory (for example ’Die Kunst des Teilens. Zeit
Rhythmus – Zahl’, 1991) and music education, writings on composers, musico-social aspects and film music, the latter being a central element of his musicological work and his work as a composer.

In 1988 the ’Tonstudio Augenklang’ was set up for Schneider, which later was replaced by the ’Greenhouse Studio’. In 1993 he taught at the Pune Film Institute (India) and in 1996 was appointed Professor of ’Music for Film and Television’ at the Munich Hochschule für Musik.
Since the early 1980s Enjott Schneider has become one of the most important German composers of film music. His music for TV series such as Weißblaue Geschichten (since 1991), Marienhof (1992) and Vater wider Willen (1998) is as famous and popular as that of TV and cinema films: e.g. Tatort, Rama Dama (1990), Stalingrad (1992) and Schlafes Bruder (1995).

Schneider’s compositional work covers a wide range: works for orchestra, organ, chamber ensemble, as well as vocal and stage works. For his operas Albert
warum? (1999) and Das Salome-Prinzip (1983), last produced in Gelsenkirchen in spring 2002, Schneider received much attention, as well as for his musical Diana
Cry for Love (Görlitz, December 2002). Projects of the first half of 2004 include the opera Bahnwärter Thiel after Gerhard Hauptmann, the film music of the ARD production Stauffenberg, and the official musical marking the 100th anniversary of the football club FC Schalke 04, entitled nullvier
keiner kommt an Gott vorbei.

For his works Enjott Schneider has received numerous awards and honours, including the Bavarian Film Award for Film Music in 1991, the Golden Score in 1996, the Fipa d’or in 2001 and the German Television Award 2007 for the best film music.