Joyce Chen, PhD
A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Chen is thrilled to join as Adjunct Faculty at Delaware State University, where she will be teaching music courses, providing applied lessons, accompanying and coaching instrumental and voice students. Dr. Chen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Music (Historical Musicology) and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Humanities at Princeton University. Under the guidance of Wendy Heller, Joyce is currently working on her dissertation, “Musica Experientia/Experimentum: Acoustics, Aesthetics, and Artisanal Knowledge in Seventeenth-Century Europe,” which explores the intersection between science, music, and aesthetics involving instrument making, sensory experience, and the development of theoretical mathematics. For this project, Joyce has spent a total 6 months (from August 2020 – Summer 2021) working as an apprentice at Zuckermann Harpsichords International—the last harpsichord manufacturing factory in the United States— in Stonington, Connecticut. In addition, she is finishing building her first harpsichord from a Troubadour Virginal Kit.
As a performing artist, Dr. Chen is well-versed in harpsichord, organ, and piano. Dr. Chen is a recipient of the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship (Emerging Professional) from the Delaware Division of the Arts. In May 2019, Dr. Chen was a featured solo performer of the Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America at the Bloomington Early Music Festival. Dr. Joyce Chen holds a D.M.A. degree in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. She has studied harpsichord with Charlene Brendler, Arthur Haas, and Davitt Moroney. She has an online following at her YouTube channel, where she uploads a weekly video of solo and/or chamber music performances, or tutorials relating to harpsichord constructions.