μεράκι
Kellin has been engaging in music making for their entire life. From performing vocally for a wide variety of audiences, to spending time analyzing music through the lenses of identity, social justice, and experience, to now teaching hosts of undergraduate students, their engagement in music has been diverse and substantial. They do all things with passion and creativity, which can be seen through their efforts to constantly learn and grow in their various positions.
MUSIC THEORIST
As a theorist, Kellin enjoys analyzing works that engage with tough social or political topics. Some of their most recent work engages with themes of identity, the US political sphere, racism, universal design, and affirming teaching practices for all. They believe strongly that music theory is often a barrier to musical learning for most students; they desire to approach teaching baseline music theory as a supplement to other musical learning. In their words, "Music theory is endlessly interesting and deserves a place at every musical table, but should not be a barrier to collegiate music students, musical genres or traditions, or anyone wanting to engage with music." They earned their M.M. in Music Theory at Michigan State University, where they taught parts of the undergraduate music theory sequence. In Spring 2025, they designed their own course to teach music theory to non-majors from all over the university.
VOCALIST
Kellin seeks to represent a group of people who typically find themselves ostracized in the vocal performing arts. As a newly emerging tenor, they attempt to challenge gender norms in classical, choral, and popular performance and bring a new meaning to the statement "voice spectrum". The voice is a biological instrument, and as such, it changes, ebbs and flows over time, and often can become a very strong source of identity. Kellin recently made the difficult and risky choice to embrace their identity more fully through hormone replacement therapy, and was blessed to come out on the other side with a voice that not only represents them better, but also rings with a freedom that listeners call "enchanting". They look to encourage the deconstruction of gender roles associated with voice types and encourage embracing identity through singing authentically. Their current vocal pursuits include an album in production and gigs at local venues in East Lansing.
ACTIVIST
In the Fall of 2025, Kellin will be headed to the Jacobs School of Music @ IU Bloomington to pursue their PhD in Music Theory.
Bios for publication are at the bottom of this page.
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Kellin Tasber (they/them) is a PhD student at the Jacobs School of Music. Their research primarily deals with popular music, aural skills, timbre, identity, and social justice. Their current research focuses on the challenges AFAB transgender and genderqueer students face in auditory imagery and vocalization post-testosterone therapy.
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Bloomington. Kellin’s studies revolve around identity and culture in music theory pedagogy and popular music, and they have a vested interest in studying neuroscience and music cognition. Their most recent presentation was focused on storytelling through secondary elements of music in Coldplay’s “Trouble in Town”. They currently teach in the undergraduate sequence at IU Bloomington. Outside of their studies, Kellin is an advocate for DEIAB in university settings; they have a vested interest in service in academia and creating a supportive and comfortable environment for their students.
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Kellin Tasber (they/them) is an incoming PhD student at the Jacobs School of Music at IU Bloomington. They have previously studied at Michigan State, earning a M.M. in Music Theory, Syracuse University, earning a Master’s in Biotechnology, and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Kellin’s studies revolve around popular music, aural skills pedagogy, rap studies, ludomusicology, and experiential analysis. Their most recent work involves storytelling through secondary elements of music in Coldplay’s “Trouble in Town” and a presentation and future publication with Dr. Michael R. Callahan at SMT 2024 on the barriers that exist for transgender and genderqueer/non-conforming students in the aural skills classroom. Outside of their studies, Kellin is an advocate and activist for diversity in university settings. They have a vested interest in service in academia and creating a supportive and comfortable environment for their students. For fun, Kellin is an active gamer in tabletop, board, and video games and enjoys spending time with their diverse online communities.