Dr. Michael Tenzer

Biography

Michael Tenzer is a Professor of Music at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he focuses on Global Musicology and serves as the Director of the Balinese Gamelan Ensemble. His diverse musical interests encompass performance, composition, research, teaching, and mentoring. Tenzer earned his B.A. from Yale University in 1978 and completed his Ph.D. in music composition at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986. He spent five years living in Bali, Indonesia, studying gamelan traditions and also studied drumming and singing in South India. Over the years, he has taught music theory and composition at Yale University before joining UBC in 1996. He co-founded Gamelan Sekar Jaya in Berkeley, California, and has composed works integrating South Indian rhythms with Balinese music. Tenzer has published extensively, promoting the analytical study of various world musics and contributing to the diversification of music curricula. He has directed numerous PhD dissertations and maintains strong relationships with his advisees. As an instructor, he teaches Music 128, which offers a global historical perspective on music and was recognized with the Society for Music Theory's inaugural Diversity Course Design Award in 2021.

Research Interests