Tanner Cassidy is currently working on a PhD in Music Theory at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Tanner has worked with the Music Academy for several years, working in the Ticket Office, on the Facilities team, and working Front of House. His research interests include 19th-century German music, opera, jazz, film music, and music in Japan. Tanner has presented at national conferences on music theory and film music, and is preparing a dissertation on postwar Japanese cinema and musical nationalism. He is also an active saxophonist, conductor, and composer in the Santa Barbara area, playing gigs and teaching lessons to aspiring jazz musicians.