Composer and pianist Carl Schroeder (b. 1982) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a graduate of St. Olaf College, writes music for concert band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and piano that is often inspired by American history and current events. As a pianist, he actively performs his original music.

    His large ensemble music has been performed by more than 30 concert bands, orchestras and choirs, including the Air Force Band of Mid-America and Ukraine's Chamber Choir Kyiv. He has written commissioned works for the Cornell University Symphonic Band, Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Wells Fargo Chorus and other ensembles and individuals, and four CDs of his music have been released. His choral work Two December Carols has been published by Boosey & Hawkes.

    Schroeder's music has earned awards and recognition from various organizations including the Minnesota Music Educators Association, which named him "Composer with Most Potential" in 2001, the National Band Association's Young Composer Mentor Project, in which he was a 2004 participant, and Virginia-based record label ERM Media, which awarded him the ERM Media Masterworks Prize in 2006. He received ASCAPlus Awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009 from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

    Schroeder graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Theory/Composition. He has studied composition primarily with Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin, and has also taken lessons with composers Mark Camphouse, Donald Grantham and Dana Wilson. Recent achievements include the premieres of his concert band work Remembrance and his string orchestra work April Sky, the latter at New York's Carnegie Hall, and the publication of his holiday choral work Two December Carols by Boosey & Hawkes. Since 2007 he has been a staff writer for the Minnesota Orchestra, regularly contributing to its monthly program magazine, Showcase.

    [Click here for a high-resolution photograph, suitable for programs and publications. (Credit David Gonnerman.)]