Daphne Tan

Biography

Daphne Tan is Associate Professor of Music Theory and Associate Dean of Academic & Student Affairs at the Faculty of Music. Her research contributions to the history of music theory have focused on the disciplinary emergence of psychology from philosophy at the turn of the twentieth century, the establishment of music theory in mid-twentieth-century America, and music analysis in the public sphere. For this work, she received the Society for Music Theory’s 2023 Citation of Special Merit and 2021 Emerging Scholar Award (Article), and the 2018 Kraehenbuehl Prize from the Journal of Music Theory. Professor Tan is also active in the field of music cognition, and her collaborative studies on musical communication and performance, music and emotion, and perceptions of musical structure have appeared in top-ranking international journals (e.g., Music Perception, Psychology of Music, Musicae Scientiae). As primary investigator, Professor Tan was recently awarded a Canada Foundation for Innovation infrastructure grant to establish the INtercultural Study of Perceptions, Inter-Relations, and Experiences (INSPIRE) Music Lab—an interdisciplinary research space that will closely engage musicians and audiences from diasporic communities, embracing the diverse musical and sonic practices of Canada. Her research has previously been supported by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant and numerous institutional grants. She has a strong track record of training and publishing with student researchers, including in the creation of open-access, multimedia outputs. For her mentoring activities, Professor Tan received an Early Career Supervision Award from the School of Graduate Studies (2023), and she was a Fellow of the inaugural University of Toronto Research Leadership Academy (2024–25).

Prior to joining the University of Toronto in 2017, Professor Tan held faculty appointments at Indiana University Bloomington and the Oberlin College Conservatory. She holds a PhD in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester; a MA in Music Theory and BMus in Performance (Clarinet) and Music Theory from McGill University; and an Associate Diploma (ARCT) in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music.