Born near Dudley in the West Midlands, Sally Harper completed her doctorate at Oxford University on music and medieval liturgy (Magdalen and Brasenose colleges) in 1989, following Bachelor and Master's degrees at Birmingham University. Following a brief period in academic administration at the University of Warwick, she began teaching at Bangor in 1991, where she discovered a passion for Wales, its people and its language. She was appointed Senior Lecturer in Music in 2006 and was for a period Director of the Centre of Advanced Welsh Music Studies and co-editor of the bilingual journal Welsh Music History / Hanes Cerddoriaeth Cymru. Sally has published widely on various aspects of music in medieval and early modern Wales as well as on medieval liturgy and church music. She is an elected Fellow of both the Learned Society of Wales and the Royal Historical Society.

Sally took early retirement from the University in 2018 to train as a priest in the Church in Wales, but continues her association with Bangor as an Honorary Research Fellow. She is also Honorary Professor in Cathedral and Sacred Music Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, UK, and KTP Academic Supervisor for a research project based at Liverpool Cathedral.

2025

• E-pub ahead of print‘Finally shall come the poet, worthy that name’: Exploring the role of a Cathedral Poet-in-Residence
  Harper, S., 1 Mar 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Beliefs and Values.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

• PublishedSecular Music before 1650
  Harper, S., 29 Sept 2022, A History of Welsh Music. Herbert, T., Clarke, M. V. & Barlow, H. (eds.). Cambridge University Press, p. 78-99 22 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2019

• PublishedMass of the Blessed Virgin Mary According to the Use of Salisbury, Part 1: Introduction and Choir Book
  Harper, J. (Editor), Harper, S. E. (Editor) & Cheung Salisbury, M., 2019, Early English Church Music (EECM). (Early English Church Music; vol. 59)
  Research output: Book/Report › Book
• PublishedMass of the Blessed Virgin Mary According to the Use of Salisbury, Part II
  Harper, J. (Editor), Harper, S. (Editor) & Cheung Salisbury, M. (Editor), 2019, Early English Church Music (EECM). (Early English Church Music; vol. 60)
  Research output: Book/Report › Book

2017

• PublishedShaping an “Indigenous” Liturgy: the Case for Medieval Wales
  Harper, S., Oct 2017, Music, Liturgy, and the Veneration of Saints of the Medieval Irish Church in a European Context. Buckley, A. (ed.). Brepols, p. 253-265 13 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2016

• PublishedClothing the Space: Making and Using the Artefacts and Vestments
  Harper, S., 15 Jan 2016, Late Medieval Liturgies Enacted: The Experience of Worship in Cathedral and Parish Church. Harper, S., Barnwell, P. S. & Williamson, M. (eds.). Routledge
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• PublishedHow Did They Do Liturgy? Preparing Late Medieval Text for Modern Enactment
  Harper, S. E. & Harper, J., 15 Jan 2016, Late Medieval Liturgies Enacted: The Experience of Worship in Cathedral and Parish Church. Harper, S., Barnwell, P. S. & Williamson, M. (eds.). 2016 ed. Routledge
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• PublishedLate Medieval Liturgies Enacted: The Experience of Worship in Cathedral and Parish Church
  Harper, S. E. (Editor), Williamson, M. (Editor) & Barnwell, P. (Editor), 15 Jan 2016, 1st ed. London: Routledge. 392 p.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book

2013

• PublishedGwalch Cywyddau Gwŷr’: Essays on Guto’r Glyn and Fifteenth-Century Wales
  Harper, S. E., Evans, D. F. (Editor), Lewis, B. (Editor) & Owen, A. P. (Editor), 17 Dec 2013, Gwalch Cywyddau Gwyr: Ysgrifau Ar Guto'r Glyn a Chymru'r Bymthegfed Ganrif / Essays on Guto'r Glyn and Fifteenth-century Wales. 2013 ed. University of Wales,Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, p. 177-202
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2010

• PublishedTraces of Lost Late Medieval Offices? The Sanctilogium Angliae, Walliae, Scotiae, et Hiberniae of John of Thnemouth (fl. 1350).
  Harper, S. E., Hornby, E. (Editor) & Maw, D. (Editor), 1 Jan 2010, Essays on the History of English Music in Honour of John Caldwell: Sources, Style, Performance, Historiography.. 2010 ed. Boydell Press, p. 1-21
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2009

• PublishedThe partnership of string and tongue in medieval Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 16 May 2009.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2008

• PublishedBorder Crossings: Welsh-English Musical Interchange c.1450-1600.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Aug 2008.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedBorder Crossings: Welsh-English Musical Interchange c.1450-1600.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jul 2008.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedCanu'r 'Songes of the Doeinges of Their Auncestors': Agweddau Ar Draddodiadau Cerddorol Cymru a Lloegr.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2008, In: Llên Cymru. 31, 1, p. 104-117
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published'Songes of the Doeinges of their Auncestors': Aspects of Welsh and English Musical Traditions.
  Harper, S. E., Kennedy, R. (Editor) & Meecham-Jones, S. (Editor), 1 Jan 2008, Authority and Subjugation in Writing of Medieval Wales. 2008 ed. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 231-250
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2007

• PublishedDafydd ap Gwilym, poet and musician.
  Harper, S. E., 4 Apr 2007
  Research output: Non-textual form › Web publication/site
• PublishedEthnic Music in Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jun 2007.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• Published"Fal y gallo’r bobl ganu y gyd ar unwaith”: Metre and Melody in Early Welsh Psalms and Carols.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2007.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedMedieval Monastic Liturgy and Music: New Devotions for the Virgin Mary.
  Harper, S. E., 3 Jun 2007.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedMusic in Welsh Culture before 1650: A Study of the Principal Sources.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2007, Ashgate.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book
• Published"Musicke bye voice and instrument" : patrons and players in late medieval and early modern Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2007, In: Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. 13, p. 58-73
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe Sound World of Dafydd ap Gwilym.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2007.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedTraditional Welsh Harp Music.
  Harper, S. E., 4 Jun 2007.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2006

• Published"And all in accordance with Sarum Use”: Revisiting the Medieval Liturgical Pattern of St Davids.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2006.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedBearers of Song/Cynheiliaid Y Gan
  Harper, S. E. (Editor) & Thomas, W. (Editor), 1 Jan 2006, 2006 ed. University of Wales Press.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book
• PublishedMusic in the Commonplace Book of Philip Powell of Brecon
  Harper, S. E., Harper, S. E. (Editor) & Thomas, W. (Editor), 1 Jan 2006, Bearers of Song/Cynheiliaid Y Gan. 2006 ed. University of Wales Press, p. 0
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• Published“Musicke bye Voice and Instrument”: Patrons and Players in Late Medieval and Early Modern Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2006.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedShaping an “indigenous” liturgy: the case for medieval Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2006.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedThe spread of Sarum Use: the case of Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2006.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedWriting down the rules of Welsh music: a sixteenth-century syllabus for bardic apprentices.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2006.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2005

• Published'A Dittie to the tune of Welsh Sydannen': a Welsh image of Queen Elizabeth.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Apr 2005, In: Renaissance Studies. 19, 2, p. 201-228
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedAn Elizabethan Tune List from Lleweni Hall, North Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2005, In: Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle. 38, p. 1-66
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMedieval Church Music in Wales, with reference to the reconstruction of the parish church of Llandeilo Tal-y-Bont, c.1510-30
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2005.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedNew light on the Content and Provenance of The Penpont Antiphoner (NLW 20541 E).
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2005.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2004

• PublishedDatblygiad cerdd dant yng Nghymru yn yr Oesoedd Canol [The development of Cerdd Dant in Wales in the Middle Ages]
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2004, In: Cof Cenedl. 19, p. 1-35
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedInstrumental Music in Medieval Wales.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2004, In: North American Journal of Welsh Studies. 4, 1, p. 20-42
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMusic for Elizabethan Stage Stars: Tarlton, Alleyn, and a Tune List from the 1590s.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2004.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedPopish Plots to kill the Queen: an Eighteenth-century Revival of the Elizabethan Ballad of Sidanen
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2004, In: National Library of Wales Journal. 33, p. 0
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2003

• PublishedDatblygiad Cerdd Dant yng Nghymru yn yr Oesoedd Canol.
  Harper, S. E., 10 May 2003.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedMusic in the Welsh Household c. 1580-1620
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2003, In: Welsh History Review. 21, p. 621-45
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedRe-evaluating the Roots of Welsh Music.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2003.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedTunes for a Welsh Psalter: Edmwnd Prys's Llyfr y Salmau.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2003, In: Studia Celtica. 37, p. 221-267
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedTunes for a Welsh Psalter: the Salmau Cân of Edmwnd Prys.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2003.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2002

• PublishedA Musical Christmas at Lleweni Hall, Denbighshire, in the Elizabethan Era
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2002, In: New Welsh Review. xiv/4, no. 56, p. 45-52
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMusical Entertainment at Lleweni, Denbighshire, c. 1600.
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2002.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2001

• PublishedIssues in dating the chronology of Cerdd Dant
  Harper, S. E., 1 Jan 2001, In: Studia Celtica. 35, p. 325-40
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSo how many Irishmen went to Glyn Achlach? Early accounts of the formation of derdd-dant (Welsh string music)
  Harper, S. E., 1 Dec 2001, In: Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies. 42, p. 1-25
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1999

• PublishedAspects of the Palaeography and History of the Robert ap Huw Manuscript
  Rees, S. & Harper, S., 30 Jun 1999, In: Welsh Music History. 3, p. 54-67 14 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review