Digital Commons Network^™

Curious, Collaborative Creativity: Applying Student-Centered Principles To Performing Ensembles, Danni Gilbert

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This article explores a comprehensive, student-centered alternative to traditional ensemble instruction with the goal of promoting better opportunities for musical independence and lifelong musicianship. Developed by Caron Collins from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York–Potsdam, the Curious, Collaborative Creativity (CCC) concept fosters student-centered learning and the promotion of 21st-century skills by encouraging students to select, arrange, and compose the repertoire to be studied; to work together in teams to equally contribute to the learning/understanding of music; and to share their work through informances to engage and enlighten community members. Examples from a current ensemble …

Chronology And Itinerary Of The Career Of J. Tim Brymn Materials For A Biography, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

James Timothy Brymn (1873-1945), a composer, conductor, and arranger, was one of the cohort of top African American dance band and theatre orchestra leaders active in Chicago and New York who became Army bandleaders in WWI. In the first decade of the 20th century, he was acknowledged as a pre-eminent master of ragtime and one of the premiere song writers of America. Brymn was the author of one of the first published blues (1912), the author of some of the first published tangos (in 1913 and 1914), the author of one of the first published jazz numbers (1917), and the …

Chronology And Itinerary Of The Career Of Ernest Hogan: Materials For A Biography, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Hogan, "The Unbleached American" in the moniker he adopted, was a comedian, singer, dancer, actor, composer, lyricist, and author. Hogan is right up at the top among the greatest figures in African American musical theater of his generation, including Billy Johnson (1858-1916), Billy McClain (1866-1950), Bob Cole (1868-1911), George Walker (1872-1911), and Bert Williams (1874-1922).

In his lifetime, he was called "the father of ragtime" or "the father of ragtime music," and recognized as the originator of this kind of music. He was "the 'king' of negro comedians" (Indianapolis Freeman, August 31, 1901, p. 5). He was "the greatest comedy …

A Chronology And Itinerary Of The Career Of N. Clark Smith: Materials For A Biography, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Great recent correction and clarification to the biography of N. Clark Smith has been made in four publications by Marian M. Ohman---three detailed and resourcefully-researched articles and an encyclopedia entry: Ohman (2003), Ohman (2004), Ohman (2008), and Ohman (2009). This document does not attempt to reproduce all of the information she has published. The primary contribution here is in new details that can be pulled from on-line, searchable newspapers and genealogy databases, with an emphasis on the early years and on the chronology of his compositions.

N. CLARK SMITH (1866-1935) Musician: violinist, cornettist, tenor singer, pianist; band master, choral conductor, …

A Chronology And Itinerary Of The Career Of Eugene Mikell: Materials For A Biography, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Francis Eugene ("Gene") Mikell (1880-1932) Instrumentalist and recitalist (violinist, cornettist, saxophonist), conductor, composer, educator (including instruction in voice, piano, violin, guitar, mandolin, banjo, cornet, saxophone, clarinet; school and community bands and chorusses). Compositions for band, orchestra, voice. Arrangements of popular songs and tunes for band. And a photograph exists of Mikell with a curious string instrument he invented---a kind of soap box cello.

Mikell attended Avery, Tuskegee, the New York Conservatory, and Orangeburg, so he probably came from a relatively educated and successful family background. This supposition is only reinforced by his subsequent career in education. He taught at: Tuskegee …

Black Us Army Bands And Their Bandmasters In World War I (Version Of 07/29/2016), Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

This essay sketches the story of the bands and bandmasters of the twenty seven new black army regiments which served in the U.S. Army in World War I. The new bands underwent rapid mobilization and demobilization over 1917-1919. They were for the most part unconnected by personnel or traditions to the long-established bands of the four black regular U.S. Army regiments that preceded them and that continued to serve outside Europe during and after the Great War. Pressed to find sufficient numbers of willing and able black band leaders for the new regiments, the army turned to schools and the …

Revitalizing Music Teacher Preparation With Selected “Essential Conditions”, Danni Gilbert

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The widespread adoption of technology makes it necessary to extend technological resources to the classroom to best prepare students for long-term success. While technology can improve many facets of learning and teaching, music educators have generally been hesitant to incorporate technology to its full potential. Partnerships with professional organizations, such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), can help music educators best reach students and achieve cultural relevancy in the digital age. Restructuring music education to integrate what ISTE calls “Essential Conditions” of learning with technology, such as student-centered learning, equitable access, and engaged communities, begins with undergraduate …

Chronology And Itinerary Of The Career Of Will Vodery: Materials For A Biography, Peter M. Lefferts

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

WILL VODERY (October 8, 1884 to November 18, 1951) Arranger and orchestrator, composer, conductor; club owner. Celebrated most as a legendary orchestrator and arranger (including a credit as the first black arranger in Hollywood), then next as a bandleader and trainer of choirs, and then as a composer. (Tellingly, he was not a member of ASCAP.) Vodery mostly worked in musical theatre, but he was also a conductor, composer, and arranger of instrumental dance music. Worked with everyone. A protege of Will Marion Cook and Bert Williams. Cook and Vodery were mentors to Ellington. Vodery was mentor to Gershwin and …

The Framework For 21st Century Learning: A First-Rate Foundation For Music Education Assessment And Teacher Evaluation, Ashley Danielle Gilbert

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

Federal laws and funding initiatives, such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the Race to the Top campaign, have created an increasing incentive for schools nationwide to document student progress, standardize assessment practices, and evaluate teachers according to student success. In response, the Common Core State Standards, a popular yet controversial policy, has emerged. Implemented at the state level, these standards focus heavily on the areas of English language arts and mathematics, subjects not traditionally incorporated to a great extent in music classrooms. In order for music to maintain a role as an essential subject in the school …