Erik Aren Schroeder is an Italian-American violinist, composer and historical performance specialist. He completed in 2023 a BA in baroque violin/viola at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, studying under Hiro Kurosaki, where he is currently pursuing studies in music theory (BA) and historical performance practice (MA) under Dr. Juliane Brandes and Reinhard Goebel, respectively. 

His compositions include an opera buffa, La Locandiera (2022), which was tied to a project awarded in the 2022 Mozarteum Research Competition; The Passions, an Ode for Music (2023), a piece inspired by the English Baroque ode/oratorio tradition; and various instrumental compositions, including a violin concerto (2024). Owing to his familiarity with the music of the Classical period, Erik was commissioned alongside other composition students of the Universität Mozarteum to provide music for the Austrian pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka. His work on contemporary composition in historical styles has also been the subject of presentations he has given at major international music theory conferences.

As a performer, Erik has studied and/or collaborated with leading Early Music specialists, including Alfredo Bernardini, Vittorio Ghielmi, Dorothee Oberlinger, Mayumi Hirasaki, Wolfgang Brunner, and others, and is active regularly and internationally as a baroque violinist and violist. He is co-director of the Salzburg-based period instrument ensemble Il Gioismo, which was awarded the 2024 Mozarteum Ensemble Stipendium.

Since 2024 he has been employed in archival and musicological work at the Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg.