Dr. Ma is a music theorist, an ethnographer, a pedagogue, and a carillonist. Her research explores timbre as not only the qualities of sound but also the culture that raises it, the body that produces it, the environment that nurtures it, and our listening perception and experience of a sonic moment. She conducts musical, timbral, ethnographical, and computational analyses to inform her research questions. These inquiries include critical approaches to timbre and voice in Japanese music, as well as the global history of music theory exchanges between East Asia and the West.
Yiqing is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Colby College in Maine, United States.
November
@Online
Presentation, “Vocalodized Voices as Porous Voices: Timbral Textuality, Queer Listening, and Cyborgs" at the Annural Meeting of American Musicological Society.
@ Bloomington, IN
Presentation, “A Cyborg Destruction: Feminine Vocality, Techno-Pessimism, and Death of Humanity.” (Co-authored with Conner Singh VanderBeek), at 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology.
7.25.26 @Evanston, IL
"Theorizing Vocal Timbre Affects in Popular Music," at Biennial Meeting of Society for Music Perception and Cognition.
6.6.26 @Dayton, OH
"Porous Voices, Vocalodized Voices: Idolized Girlhood and Feminist Resistance," at Feminist Theory & Music 2026 Conference: Movement, Musicking, and Migrations.
5.28.26 @Vancouver, BC, Canada
Presentation , "Collaborating on Curriculum Revision Across Individual and Institutional Transition," at 2026 Pedagogy into Practice Conference.
2.27.26 @Washington DC
Presentation, "Porous Voices: Transnational Girlhood in the Digital Age," at Biennial Meeting of International Association for the Study of Popular Music. "
1.15.26 @Durham, NC
Guest Lecture, "Timbre and Music Theory.” Duke University
11.8.25 @Minneapolis, MN
Presentation , "Sonic Misogyny and Resistance: Gender-based Violence and Girlhood in J-pop," at Joint Annual Meeting of American Musicological Society and Society for Music Theory
11.7.25 @Minneapolis, MN
Presentation , "Watashi wa star:’ Fusion, Rebirth, and Hip-Hop Identity in Megan (2024)," at Joint Annual Meeting of American Musicological Society and Society for Music Theory
10.27.25 @Ann Arbor, MI
Guest Lecture, "Analyzing Vocal Timbre," University of Michigan
4.5.25 @Williamstown, MA
Presentation, "Resilient Voices: Black Vocality and Female Authorship in J-pop," at 37th Meeting of the Northeast Conference of Music Theorists
3.12.25 @Columbus, OH
Presentation, "Affects of Timbre: Voice in Japanese Performance Theory," at Association of Asian Studies 2025 Annual Conference