Calder Hannan

Calder Hannan serves as an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, based in the Simon Music Center (SM325G) with university email cmhannan@iu.edu. He joined IU after previous appointments at Columbia University and Fordham University.

His educational credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Music Theory, Columbia University (2024)
• M.Phil. in Music Theory, Columbia University (2022)
• B.A. in Music and Physics, University of Virginia (2017)

Hannan specializes in theoretical analysis of popular music with intense focus on extreme and progressive metal genres. His research investigates complex rhythmic structures, metric transformations, musical form, and transcription methodologies through emic perspectives that integrate cultural, performance, and cognitive frameworks. He actively bridges academic scholarship and public engagement via his YouTube channel Metal Music Theory and professional website calderhannan.com.

As a performing musician, Hannan contributes as guitarist to New York City-based metal ensembles Florid Ekstasis (timebending death metal) and Aphelion Entity (brutal death metal), providing practical context that informs his scholarly work.