A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Chen is delighted to serve as the new Organist/Choir Director at St. Katherine of Siena. Dr. Chen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Historical Musicology and Interdisciplinary Humanities at Princeton University, 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, Dr. Chen 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. Dr. Chen is also Adjunct Faculty at Delaware State University, where she teaches music courses, provides applied keyboard lessons, accompanies and coaches instrumental and voice students.
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. Chen holds a D.M.A. degree in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Outside of academia and church music, Dr. Chen has an online following at her YouTube channel, where she frequently uploads content videos of solo and chamber music performances, as well as tutorials relating to harpsichord constructions.