Currently a Lecturer in Music History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Louis Epstein received his BA in Music with honors from Princeton University in 2006 and his PhD in Music from Harvard University in 2013. His research focuses on the intersections between music, economics, and politics in France during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In his dissertation, "Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France, 1918-1939," he explores the wealthy individuals, powerful institutions, and lucrative practices that made music composition possible during a time characterized by political and economic turmoil. His research has been supported by the Georges Lurcy Foundation and by the Oscar S. Schafer Award for Teaching Excellence.
Louis has presented at regional and national meetings of the American Musicological Society and recently presented internationally at the Rethinking Poulenc conference at Keele University. In November, he presented "Christophe Colomb and France's Official Discovery of Darius Milhaud" at the national meeting of the American Musicological Society in Pittsburgh, PA. An experienced teacher, Louis has been recognized numerous times for his excellent classroom teaching and has presented on pedagogy research at the 2011 Music History Teaching Day Conference. His other research interests include musical nationalism and exoticism, music sociology, and historiography.