Emilie Holmberg

Emilie Augusta Kristina Hammarskjöld née Holmberg (May 6, 1821 – March 26, 1854) was a Swedish composer and musician. She was active as a concert singer, a pianist and a music instructor. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She was likely the first woman artist from Sweden to have toured in the United States, prior to Jenny Lind. In Sweden, she is generally known only as Emilie Holmberg, as she left the country shortly after her marriage. Life Emilie Holmberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden to merchant Carl Christian Holmberg and Aurora Emelie Hellgren. Her parents divorced in 1823, and she was supported by her mother, a successful businesswoman who founded and managed her own library. Education Early on, her mother noted her interest in music, and ensured she was given a musical education. She was entrusted by her mother to the care of the composer Eduard Brendler and his wife Ulrica (Bouck) Brendler (1803–1841). She took music lessons from the composer and musical instructor Erik Drake (1788–1870), and singing lessons from the composer and organist Johan Peter Cronhamn (1803–1875). Early career in Sweden In 1836, at age fifteen, she published her first compositi