Carl Schroeder of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composes music for concert band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and solo piano that often draws inspiration from American history, current events, natural surroundings and memories. He is also the author of two books in the Fenn and Zorro series of novels told through correspondence.

Schroeder's large ensemble music has been performed by nearly 50 concert bands, orchestras and choirs, including the Air Force Band of Mid-America, Minnesota Youth Symphonies and Ukraine's Chamber Choir Kyiv. He has written commissioned works for the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Minnesota State Band, City of Lakes Community Band, Cornell University Symphonic Band, Southwest Wind Ensemble, Three Rivers Conference Honor Band, Wells Fargo Chorus and other ensembles and individuals. His band work Spin is published by C. Alan Publications, and his choral work Two December Carols is 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 the record label ERM Media, which awarded him the ERM Media Masterworks Prize in 2006. He has received five ASCAPlus Awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and five CD recordings of his music have been released.

Schroeder is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where he earned a bachelor of music degree in theory/composition and studied composition primarily with Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin. He has also taken lessons with Mark Camphouse, Donald Grantham and Dana Wilson. Recent premieres of his music include the Three Rivers Conference Honor Band's premieres of both Rings, honoring the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and Sculptures, inspired by the outdoor pianos placed throughout downtown Minneapolis in the summer and decorated by local artists; and the Minnesota State Band's premiere of Lake Harriet Bandshell Blues, an original work in the blues and Dixieland style inspired by the Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis. His most recent project is a suite of six solo piano pieces inspired by his 2023 novella A Letter from Yzabeth.

Click here for a high-resolution photograph [credit Donna Erickson].