Headshot for harpsichordist Joyce Chen

Joyce

Chen*

Harpsichord

A native of Taiwan, Joyce 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 acoustical theory. For this project, Joyce has spent a total 4 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 just finished building her first harpsichord from a Troubadour Virginal Kit.

From Fall 2021 to Spring 2022, Dr. Chen was Adjunct Professor of Keyboard and University Accompanist at Delaware State University, where she also introduced a pilot program of HBCU early music access project in collaboration with Early Music America. Outside of academia, Joyce has an active performing career as a solo harpsichordist. Joyce is a recipient of the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts. In May 2019, Joyce was a featured solo performer of the Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America at the Bloomington Early Music Festival. Joyce holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science degree 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. https://www.youtube.com/c/JoyceChenMusic

*Joyce Chen will be on faculty for Week 1 of the 2022 Amherst Early Music Festival.