Faculty Instructor

Praised for her “excellent musicianship” (Talkin’ Broadway) and “stunning and emotionally evocative” playing (Cherry and Spoon), Dr. Carson Rose Schneider is a versatile pianist who works as a duo partner, coach, music director, and rehearsal pianist with opera companies, chamber groups, and choirs. The Star Tribune recognized her recent work on Skylark Opera Theatre’s 2022 production of Eugene Onegin, saying that “pianist and music director Carson Rose Schneider brings out the beauty skillfully as the production's lone instrumentalist. Even the dance interludes — which feature the opera's most familiar music — capably capture the music's ebullient spirit...”

Based in the Twin Cities Metro Area, she has collaborated with companies around the Midwest including Skylark Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of the North, AOT, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Lakes Area Music Festival, OOPS MN, Bay View Music Festival, AOT, Out of the Box Opera, and Really Spicy Opera. Most recently, she was on the faculty this past summer at Wesley Balk Institute and St Croix Valley Opera’s Summer Vocal Intensive. She was also Music Director for her fifth production with Skylark Opera Theatre in May 2023, Jake Heggie’s ree Decembers. Passionate about new music, she is featured with mezzo-soprano Georgia Jacobson on composer Linda Kachelmeier’s new album, Harsh ings to Beauty. In 2023-2024, she worked as Music Director with Lyric Opera of the North and Nautilus Music-Theater, and curated several recording and chamber music projects. She is thrilled to return to the Summer Vocal Institute at St Croix Valley Opera for her third season.

In addition to an active performing life, she is the Music Director and Pianist at Union Congregational Church in Elk River, MN and is the Coordinator and Music Director for Skylark Opera’s Skylark for Seniors concert series. She also manages a home recording and coaching studio called Carson Rose Studios. Dr. Schneider finished her DMA in collaborative piano and coaching from the University of Minnesota in 2017, where she studied with Dr. Timothy Lovelace.