Stephen McAdams studied music theory and composition before turning to perceptual psychology (BSc, McGill, 1977; PhD, Stanford, 1984). In 1986, he founded the Music Perception and Cognition team at IRCAM in Paris where he headed The Angel of Death research-creation project. He was a senior research scientist in the French CNRS (1989-2004) before moving to McGill University to direct CIRMMT (2004-2009). He holds the Canada Research Chair in Music Perception and Cognition and is Director of the international Analysis, Creation, and Teaching of Orchestration (ACTOR) partnership. He studies musical timbre and its role in the perception of orchestration.