Sunday Night Orchestra, a jazz big band based in Nuremberg, Germany, was founded in 1994 by Dejan Terzic and Sebastian Strempel. The ensemble initially performed weekly, inspired by The Monday Night Orchestra from New York, and their early members included Ralf Hesse, Jürgen Hahn, Edwin Göppel, among others. In its early years, the band released their debut album Voyage Out in 1998, followed by It's Only Life in 2000. Ed Partyka took over musical leadership in 2001, leading to the release of Music Without Words in 2003 and Overcast – The Music of Ed Partyka in 2006. The band has notable collaborated multiple times with Maria Schneider and performed works by composers like Gil Evans and Frank Reinshagen. Sunday Night Orchestra received several awards, including the Nürnberg-Stipendium in 1996, the Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis in 2004, and the Wolfram-von-Eschenbach-Preis in 2006.
