Jasper Schoff

Jasper Schoff (2024) is a PhD student in Music History. He is interested in representations and practices of listening across the early modern Atlantic World, with a particular focus on Indigenous-French exchange in the early period of Francophone settlement in North America. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Jasper holds a joint BA in History and Music from Harvard University, and an MPhil in Music from Clare College, Cambridge. His undergraduate thesis, on the articulation of “good taste” in 16th-century Parisian printed music, won the Washburn Prize for Best History Thesis and the Thomas T. Hoopes Prize. His work at Cambridge was subsequently funded by a Ramsay Scholarship and the William Barclay Squire Studentship, and his master’s dissertation examined how settler discourse in early Québec drew on, and contributed to, musical ideas of courtly virtue developing in France. 

Outside of his academic work, Jasper sings in chapel choirs, plays violin, and conducts as often as he can. He loves opera – particularly by Mozart – and thinks everyone should do much more by Rameau. He is also deeply invested in writing about music for more general audiences. Always delighted to contribute program notes when asked, Jasper has written for diverse groups including the London Mozart Players, the New York Philharmonic, the Sydney Youth Orchestras, and the Choir of Croydon Minster.