She studied from 1984 until 1991 at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, where her teachers were Ingrid Figur, Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
In 1995, she performed to great acclaim during the Salzburg Festival as the title role in Berg's Lulu, a part she would later sing at the Metropolitan Opera and at Glyndebourne.
In June 2007, she interpreted Violetta in Christoph Marthaler's new production of La traviata alongside Jonas Kaufmann as Alfredo at the Palais Garnier.
[6] Her repertoire contains several baroque operas, Bach cantatas, and many of the great Mozart roles, such as Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro), Pamina (The Magic Flute) and Servilia (La clemenza di Tito).
[7] Schäfer and Herrmann collaborated on a film project of Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe and Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire.