Yan Gao

Department of Music/Critical Music Theory
Pronouns: she/her

Yan Gao is a PhD candidate in Critical MusicStudies at Stony Brook University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College and a Master's degree in Music History and Theory from Stony Brook University. Yan’s research focuses on the cultural discourse of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s as expressed through music. She examines the illocutionary force of this music and its articulation of life, trauma, mourning, and commemoration. She is excited to join the IDEA grad cohort and work with the academic planning team.