Sophia Schröder (Stockholm, 1712 – 29 January 1750) was a Swedish soprano (of German descent), active as a concert vocalist at the royal orchestra, the Kungliga Hovkapellet, at the royal Swedish court, the first woman to have been officially[1] given such a position.[2]
Sophia Schröder was born in Stockholm to German immigrants. In 26 October 1726, women were formally allowed to be employed at Kungliga Hovkapellet; the same year, 1726 Schröder and her colleague Judith Fischer were employed as vocalists at the orchestra of the royal Swedish court, and the follwogin year, they replaced the two boys previously serving as sopranos. Together, they became historical as the first women officially employed in the then two-hundred-year-old history of the royal orchestra. They were also the first officiall female court singers at the Swedish court since Anne Chabanceau de La Barre. They were followed by more women in the orchestra during the age of liberty. In 1740, her sister Gustaviana Schröder (1701–1763) was employed in the same capacity at the royal orchestra. In 1751, Hedvig Witte and Cecilia Elisabeth Würzer performed at the burial of King Frederick I of Sweden.
Sophia Schröder was a court singer, and performed for the royal court at various occasions as well as at the performances of the orchestra; from 1731, the royal orchestra also performed public concerts at Riddarhuset in Stockholm. She was a student of Anders von Düben, Casper Gottlob Grünwaldt, Frans Hindrich Meyer, Johan Helmich Roman, Conrad Arnoldi and Jacob Dedering. Sophia Schröder, as well as her sister, Gustaviana, remained unmarried and kept her position as vocalist until her death in 1750.