Born in Staffanstorp on the 13th July, 1971. He began by studying musicology and church music until his interest in composing got the upper hand. He then studied composition with Ole Lützow-Holm at the Gothenburg College of Music between 1991 and 1996, having previously studied musicology at Lund University and composition and counterpoint with Kent Olofsson and Johannes Johansson in Malmö. After completing his studies in Gothenburg Scheffer went on to study composition and modern music theatre with professor Mauricio Kagel at the Cologne Hochschule für Musik, where he came in contact with other young international composers, a contact which has been of vital importance to him. During a short but significant period he also studied with the Scottish composer James Dillon.
For a long time Scheffer has worked with formalised structures in his compositions, while at the same time trying to attain a personal approach which also involves a close contact with the sound and the musical dramaturgy. Story of tales (1995) – a musical scene for baritone, percussion, piano and double bass, and Qui pro quo (1996-97) for solo percussion, bass clarinet in B flat and cello are examples of this approach.
Scheffer has dissociated himself from an earlier expressive quality in his music in favour of certain monotonous elements. This is partly due to his use of “montage“ technique at times, which treats the musical constituents as “objects“. This is particularly noticeable in the orchestral work en chantant (1994-95). In this work the human voice plays an important part, which is also true of several other works by Scheffer. The formants of the voice not only form the foundation of the harmonic construction but are the basis of the whole conception of the work. Scheffer’s works have been performed at the international summer course in composition in Gothenburg in 1994 and also at the Rheinisches Musikfest in Cologne in 1996.
Scheffer was elected a member of the Society of Swedish Composers in 1997.

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