Daphne Leong
Professor of Music Theory
Music theory

,听狈131

Publications

Daphne Leong鈥檚听research interests include rhythm, analysis and performance, the music of 20th- and 21st-century composers, and theories of cross-disciplinary collaboration.听Her book鈥斺淧erforming Knowledge:听Twentieth-Century Music in Analysis and Performance鈥 (Oxford Studies in Music Theory, 2019)鈥攚as听supported by a Kayden Research Grant, CU LEAP and GCAH grants, and a subvention from the Society for Music Theory.听Her articles appear in the听Journal of Music Theory, Perspectives of New Music, Music Theory Online, Theory and Practice, Int茅gral, Gamut听and Acta Musicologica, as well as in edited collections on Bart贸k and Ravel and in the 鈥淣orton Guide to Teaching Music Theory.鈥 Representative chapters and听articles are听鈥淧erformed Rhythm at the Center of Bart贸k鈥檚 Fifth String Quartet鈥 (with the Tak谩cs Quartet), Performing Knowledge (2019); 鈥淭ime鈥檚 鈥楽uchness鈥 in Robert Morris鈥檚 鈥楥lear Sounds,鈥欌 Perspectives of New Music (2014); 鈥淕eneralizing Syncopation,鈥 Theory and Practice (2011); and 鈥淗umperdinck and Wagner: Metric Spaces, States听and Symmetries,鈥 Journal of Music Theory (2007).

In 2023, Leong serves as Distinguished Visiting Professor and Dean鈥檚 Chair in Music at McGill University in Montr茅al, Canada.听In fall 2022, she led a week-long听series of workshops at the Sibelius Academy, Finland. She has听presented on the plenary session of the Society for Music Theory, given a keynote for Indiana University鈥檚 Special Symposium on Performance and Analysis, and presented invited papers and lecture-recitals at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Br膬iloiu Institute of Ethnography and Folklore in Bucharest, the Eastman School of Music, University of Kansas, Texas Tech University, and other national and international venues.

Leong has twice been a fellow at the Mannes Institute for Advanced Studies in Music Theory (in 鈥淩hythm and Temporality鈥 and 鈥淭ransformational Theory鈥)听and has undertaken source studies at the Sacher Institute in Basel, Switzerland, the Bart贸k Archives in Budapest, the Hungarian Ethnographic Museum in Budapest, and the Br膬iloiu Institute of Ethnography and Folklore in Bucharest.

Leong is also an active pianist and chamber musician, performing in recent years in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, England, Romania听and Hong Kong. Her repertoire ranges from Bach to premieres of current music; three recent concert programs are May鈥檚 鈥淭reacherous Marbles鈥 (written for her), Ravel鈥檚听鈥淢a M猫re l鈥橭ye鈥澨齛ndMessiaen鈥檚听鈥淰isions de l鈥橝men鈥(2008); Mozart鈥檚 Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat, Schoenberg鈥檚听鈥淪echs kleine Klavierst眉cke,鈥 Op.19 and Mozart鈥檚 Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-falt (2006); and the complete Chopin 脡tudes Op. 25 (2014). In fall 2013, she premiered Morris鈥檚 鈥淐lear Sounds among Hills and Waters鈥 (dedicated to her) on a program that included Andriessen鈥檚 鈥淗out鈥 and Shende鈥檚 鈥淭hrow Down or Shut Up!鈥 She is a founding member of the quartet Throw Down or Shut Up! which presents new music in traditional and non-traditional formats (concert halls, jazz clubs, interactive concerts for children),听and which听issued its premiere .听Leong鈥檚 principal teachers were David Burge, Douglas Humpherys听and Robin Harrison.听

In 2018-19, Leong directed Linking Music Theory and Practice, a year-long collaboration between the CU Boulder music theory department and five performance studios听culminating in the presentation of five undergraduate research projects. She received the 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award of the University of Colorado Boulder Faculty Assembly. Courses she has created range from graduate seminars on 鈥減erformance and analysis,鈥 鈥渞hythm and meter,鈥 鈥渁nalysis of recordings鈥 and 鈥渁nalysis of music since 1945;鈥 to courses on 鈥渢heory and analysis of post-tonal music,鈥 鈥渘ew-music styles and practices,鈥 and core theory and aural skills. In fall 2019, she led听a graduate student workshop for the Society for Music Theory on 鈥渢wentieth-century music in analysis and performance.鈥

In 2019, Leong organized 鈥淩hythm in Music since 1900,鈥 a multidisciplinary international conference with a keynote lecture-recital by pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. She has served as elected听vice president of the national Society for Music Theory, as well as on the SMT鈥檚 Executive Board, Publication Awards Committee, Program Committee,听Nominations Committee听and International Relations Committee; she chaired the SMT Interest Groups Task Force.听She was founding chair of the 鈥淧erformance and Analysis鈥 Interest Group of the SMT听and curates its online Pedagogy Resource. Leong has organized three special sessions on performance and analysis for SMT national conferences. She has also served on the Kraehenbuehl Prize Selection Committee for the Journal of Music Theory听and acted as Program Chair of the Nancarrow Centennial Online Symposium. She serves on the editorial board of Int茅gral.

Leong earned a PhD听and a master鈥檚 in music theory, as well as a听Master of Music in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music.

Music theory