Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Content Considerations In High School Musical Theater Show Selection, Mark David Lefeber

Theses and Dissertations

Many high schools present musical theater productions annually. In some cases, high school students present material that could be considered controversial or uncomfortable for performers, their directors, or audiences. The purpose of this study was to examine content issues of musicals that high school theater directors must consider when selecting a show for high school performance. Topics analyzed included: sexualization of characters and sexism, references to sexual activities including kissing and simulation of sexual acts; profanity, racially-defined Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) roles, racism, LGBTQ characters, gun violence, the use of alcohol and drugs, domestic violence, direct religious messaging …

Student Perceptions Of The Impact Of Kinesthetics In The Choral Rehearsal, Lucas G. Krogmann

Theses and Dissertations

Using movement activities, or kinesthetics, in the choral rehearsal is a studied and established teaching technique that some music educators regularly employ. The movement-based strategies have their roots in the work of Jaques-Dalcroze, Laban, and Kodály, as well as other choral pedagogues of the 20th century that have built on their foundation. However, upon literature review, few studies have been done to establish the student perspective regarding the use of movement in the choral rehearsal. Three research questions guided this qualitative, action research study: 1) Do students have a positive or negative perception of the use of kinesthetics during the …

Design Thinking & The Entrepreneurial Mindset In The Collegiate Music Classroom, Antonina M.C. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the implementation of design thinking andan entrepreneurial mindset into a collegiate music classroom, where students have an interest in applying business acumen and entrepreneurship to their future plans as teaching and performing artists. The following questions guided this study: 1) are there benefits to introducing design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset to music students as they transition from student to professional?; 2) will the addition of these approaches give students greater confidence as arts entrepreneurs?; 3) how can design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset methodologies be successfully introduced and practiced throughout …

"With The Butterfly Sleeves Naka Filipiniana": Contemporary Study Of Filipinx American Women In Popular Music, Georgette Luluquisin Patricio

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines contemporary Filipinx-American women artists and the ways in which they use their music to construct their identity against Western portrayals of the Filipinx/a woman. Unlike other Asian Americans, Filipinx Americans try to attain the status of the "model minority" because they were at one point in history considered US nationals with American training, but they also do not adhere to it in the same way that Japanese and Indian Americans do. The model minority myth is the notion that Asian Americans have to overcome a certain struggle or challenge in order to achieve the American Dream. Of …

The Meanings Of Musics And Technologies In The Twentieth Century: Case Studies In Postwar Pop, Afrofuturist Jazz, And Chilean Electronic Music, Lawton Hall

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Les Paul and Mary Ford’s high-tech pop, Sun Ra’s proto-afrofuturist jazz, and Chilean electronic music to explore how new modes of musical expression and technological advances were shaped in relation to gender, race, and political policy. Les Paul’s development of new recording techniques reflected postwar attitudes toward scientific progress, and the way he presented these “New Sounds” with his wife Mary Ford reinforced gendered notions of domestic space. Sun Ra’s appropriation of Space Age themes with the Arkestra was a synthesis of 1950s Black radicalism and racial uplift initiatives from his early life in Birmingham, Alabama that …

What's Holding Them Back? The Different Voices Of The Adolescent Treble Singer, Genevieve Michels

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescent treble singers in choir programs are often overlooked due to their higher numbers compared to non-treble voices. While physically present, treble voiced students at the high school of study, consistently demonstrated lower volume and lighter tone production compared to their non-treble voiced counterparts. This mixed methods research was based on the question: what causes the treble singer to hold back their volume/tone during a choral rehearsal? Literature revealed four areas to consider: singing confidence, voice change, self-confidence, and social influences, which became the basis for a quantitative survey given to sixty-three students across age and grades. Students who "agreed” …

Marching To The Beat Of Her Drum: A View Into The Music Heritage Of The Women's Army Corps, Jennifer Trotnow

Theses and Dissertations

The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) Band was a unique military band that consisted of all-women soldier musicians. This study examined the stories and music education of the women who served in the WAC band. Several questions guided this study including: 1) what kind of music education did these women receive before, during, and after serving in the WAC band? 2) how were the music educations of these soldiers different throughout the various eras of war? 3) did the women continue to play their instruments after they finished serving in the Army? If so, in what capacity did they play? and …

Scattered People, Shared Identity: An Examination Of Music And Identity Among Jewish Populations In Germany, France, And Israel During The Holocaust, Jessica Catherine Staedter

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of music’s role in identity formation, specifically focusing on Jewish identity in Germany, France, and Israel before and during World War II. This thesis is an examination of how societal changes function as a catalyst for identity negotiations, how said negotiations function within cultural context, and, above all, how music functioned on all sides of these arguments. The following sections will discuss the current trends in Jewish identity research, the historical events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century with particular focus on Jewish life before and after the Napoleonic era, the role of …

The Application Of Mindfulness Practices In The High School Choral Classroom To Impact Music Performance Anxiety During Solo Performance, Cassandra Marie Pacelli

Theses and Dissertations

Music students are regularly expected to perform in front of live audiences as part of their music education. These public performances can cause music students to experience music performance anxiety (MPA). Some of the impacts of MPA that could potentially impact the quality of their performance include fear, dread, shaking, trembling, and dry mouth. One possible intervention to counteract the negative effects of MPA is through practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of being aware and in the present moment without fear, shame, or judgment of self or others. This mixed-methods research study addressed the prevalence of music performance anxiety …

Wind & Rhythm And Race And Gender: Evaluating Wind Band Programming In Relation To Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion, Connor Thomas Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

While the wind band is known for programming new works by contemporary composers, this thesis explores wind band programming in terms of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Community resources such as composer databases, newspapers and blogs, and social media express the classical music community’s frustration with programming practices. Scholarship in wind band repertoire support these community resources. The wind band community in the United States has a strong tradition of commissioning and awarding new works for the medium. The wind band has a strong relationship with radio as it documented notable developments throughout the twentieth century. Programming on the radio show …

Conceptualizing Psychological Performance Enhancement In A Music Domain, Jessica Lynn Ford

Theses and Dissertations

Contrary to sport, the study of performance enhancement in music is at an earlier stage of development in its research, practice, and performer acceptance (Pecen, Collins, & MacNamara, 2016). In the absence of music performance enhancement research, practitioners frequently utilize sport as a template to inform both research and applied practice with musicians to optimize performance (Hays, 2002, 2012). While sport provides an evidence-based framework for studying performance enhancement, musicians have unique performance considerations that differ from athletes (Pecen et al., 2016), and these divergences in domains are not well understood. Using the McLeroy framework (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler, & Glanz, …

Children’S Literature In The Elementary General Music Classroom, Holly Ann Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Elementary music teachers are using children’s literature in their music lessons to reinforce music skills and concepts as well as introduce students to biographical and historical information as it relates to music. Using children’s literature in the music classroom is aurally and visually pleasing and with the use of culturally relevant and diverse materials, it can allow students to have a sense of belonging in the classroom. Students are highly engaged in the music lesson through response and participation in the reading of the story. Using children’s literature in the music classroom can also reinforce reading skills, specifically the five …

The Journey An Internship In Urban Activism, Music Videos: Zombie And Bad Syne, And A Study Of Afro-Panamanian Identity & The Reggaetón Music Movement, Lisa Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE JOURNEY

AN INTERNSHIP IN URBAN ACTIVISM, MUSIC VIDEOS: ZOMBIE AND BAD SYNE, AND A STUDY OF AFRO-PANAMANIAN IDENTITY & THE REGGAETÓN MUSIC MOVEMENT

by

Lisa Margaret Spencer

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2019

Under the Supervision of Co-Chairs: Dr. Theresa Kenney and Dr. Tami Williams

PART I- Under the guidance of Dr. Jill Florence Lackey

A major component of my doctorate included an internship in cultural anthropology at UrbAn in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Dr. Jill Florence Lackey. The non-profit organization was housed in the Lincoln Park Village neighborhood. I assisted in planning events in the agency’s the South Side …

Best Practices For Standards-Based Assessment In The Secondary Choral Music Setting, Tasha Twesme

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

BEST PRACTICES FOR STANDARDS-BASED ASSSESMENT IN

THE SECONDARY CHORAL MUSIC SETTING

by

Tasha Twesme

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Associate Professor Sheila J. Feay-Shaw

This qualitative study of secondary choral music teachers addressed the successes and difficulties of current assessment practices in music education. The purpose of this study was to identify best assessment practices for a secondary choral classroom within a standards-based grading system. In order to understand the process of assessment development and implementation, a mixed-model approach to the research was used including a survey and semi-structured interviews. The survey was intended to …

Turn Of The Century British Musical Comedy In An American Performance Library, Victoria Peters

Theses and Dissertations

The genre label 'musical comedy' gained its stride in the 1920s, but the term emerged as early as the 1870s. These early musical comedies are often overlooked in the historical discussion of musical theater, due to a lack of integration between the storyline and musical numbers. With the help of the Tams-Witmark collection, housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mills Music Library, this paper examines how two of these early musical comedies, composed by England’s Ivan Caryll and Sidney Jones, were exported and used by touring theater companies in The United States. These flexible musical comedies complicate the kinds of …

Developing The Identity Of An Elementary General Music Teacher: Perspectives Of Veteran Music Educators, Shawna Christine Greunke

Theses and Dissertations

Developing a teacher identity is an essential component for the career of an elementary general music educator. This study explored existing literature on teacher identity, elementary music teaching, challenges for beginning music teachers, and experiences of veteran music teachers. Common themes found were the process of constructing an occupational identity, the value of mentorship to support beginning teachers, defining professional roles and expectations, and the master teacher’s focus of keeping students at the center of teaching. For this study, eight experienced elementary general music teachers participated in semi-structured interviews with eighteen questions, where their responses were audio recorded, transcribed, and …

The Real Ambassadors: A Musical On Jazz Diplomacy And Race Relations During The Early Cold War Years, Treshani Perera

Theses and Dissertations

This Master’s thesis examines jazz diplomacy and race relations in the United States during the early Cold War years, the U.S. State Department’s cultural diplomacy propaganda initiatives, and narratives of musicians featured in State Department jazz tours as reflected in the musical "The Real Ambassadors." The musical was written by Iola and Dave Brubeck following their State Department jazz tour of Europe, Asia and the Middle East in 1958. The debut performance took place at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival, featuring Louis Armstrong in the lead role. A textural analysis of songs from the musical will be considered for in-depth …

Exploring Integrated Curriculum For Music Education In China: Music With Children’S Literature And Visual Arts, Xiyao Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

The use of an integrated curriculum approach for music education in China is in the beginning stages of implementation. The current National Standards for Music teaching in China are limited in this approach. The purpose of this thesis was to develop some novel and creative teaching methods for music utilizing an integrated approach for children’s literature and visual arts that could be applied to future music classes in China. Research on the integration of children’s literature and visual arts into music teaching were reviewed in this thesis for general approaches, and application both broadly and specifically within Chinese music education. …

American Music In Wind Band Repertoire: The Importance And Need For Heritage Preservation, Jessica Leah Kindschi Walter

Theses and Dissertations

For an instrumental conductor in a music education program, repertoire selection is an important step while preparing for a concert program. Choosing quality music that represents varied genres, styles, and historical periods helps to create a stimulating concert for the listeners and a well-balanced musical preparation for the player. Performing music from other countries is essential and should be balanced with American music, specifically folk songs and marches.

The purpose of this thesis is to show the placement and benefit, according to composers and arrangers, of utilizing American music within the music classroom, specifically in the choice of wind band …

The Dichotomy Between Film Music And Concert Music: Demonstrated By The Careers Of Aaron Copland And Bernard Herrmann, Joshua Adam Henry

Theses and Dissertations

Aaron Copland and Bernard Herrmann both began working in the film industry in 1939. Both were born in the United States, unlike many prominent composers working in Hollywood during the golden age, and both composed film scores and concert works. Copland composed mostly concert pieces while Herrmann composed mostly film scores. They worked in both the art music and popular music realms, yet they had to continually defend the validity of film music. Although this situation was not uncommon to composers working in Hollywood, this thesis focuses on the careers of Copland and Herrmann to demonstrate the dichotomy between film …

Pedagogy And Materials For Teaching Piano To Children In China And The United States, Linxi Yang

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study compared the pedagogical teaching practices and piano materials used by five Chinese and two U.S. piano teachers. The teacher interviews were conducted in China and the United States based on semi-structured questions and then transcribed, translated as needed and interpreted for common themes. Interviews revealed details about specific pedagogical practices that are different based on the age of piano students, individual teacher ideas about selection of materials, and the impact of developing relationships and motivation for students. The piano materials revealed a lack of different material in the books published in the United States and China. The …

Winifred Wagner: Breaking Tradition At Bayreuth, Brittany Anne Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

Winifred (née Williams) Wagner (1897-1980) is notorious in history for her relationship with Adolf Hitler. Winifred married Siegfried, Richard Wagner's son, in 1915 and took over the Bayreuth Festival after his death in 1930. In 1923, Winifred met Adolf Hitler and formed a quick friendship with the charismatic man. This personal relationship drives much of Winifred’s story and when it has been told, her contributions as the head of the Bayreuth Festival are rarely discussed. Often musical historians give credit for the artistic changes she made at Bayreuth to Heinz Tietjen and Emil Preetorius, ignoring Winifred’s contributions. This thesis examines …

That's Debatable!: Genre Issues In Troubadour Tensos And Partimens, Kelli Mcqueen

Theses and Dissertations

The troubadour repertory consists of an elaborate complex of genres, some of which are dialogs that employ argumentation in the form of a debate or contest. The precise classification of these debate songs, especially the tenso and partimen genres, involves a measure of controversy that arose in the fourteenth century and continues today. Modern scholars in both literary and musical disciplines reference the dispute in their study of these songs, but largely gloss over the controversy to uphold the traditional parameters of their own disciplines. For literary scholars, this means treating these dialogs as lyric poetry, and musicologists tend to …

Balancing Business And Art In Music: Gazing Into The Star Texts Of Michelle Branch And Regina Spektor, Max Neibaur

Theses and Dissertations

This research builds on literature presenting ideas on the tension between business and art in the music industry and literature defining what a star is by analyzing star texts. Specifically, it looks at how business and art is balanced in the star texts of Michelle Branch and Regina Spektor and what tension this balancing creates. As the analysis follows the careers of these two case studies along their star texts, it reveals the tension created in relation to the record label, press, and fans of the music artists. The analysis discovers that music artists rely on social media to self-brand …

The Struggle Is Real: Propaganda And Workers Songbooks Published By The Workers Music League, 1934-35, Jennifer Meixelsperger

Theses and Dissertations

In New York City, the 1930s saw an explosion of artistic activity through the growth of literary John Reed Clubs, Workers Theatres, and in music: the Composers Collective and Pierre Degeyter Club. These music organizations can trace their roots ultimately back to the Communist Party of the United States, and then to Comintern. They worked together with the goal of creating a distinctly “proletarian music,” which arguably culminated in the 1934 and 1935 releases of two Workers Songbooks. Together, these Songbooks serve as examples of the organizations’ attempts to create proletarian music, and also as examples of neutral propaganda, as …

Male Teachers In Elementary General Music, Scott Victor Greger

Theses and Dissertations

Male elementary general music teachers are rare, and little research exists about them. The men who teach music at the elementary level often face challenges that they must overcome through their own experimentation. One such challenge is the octave difference in singing voice between teacher and student. This study reviewed the existing literature on male elementary teachers and investigated five male elementary general music teachers at various stages in their careers. Eighteen structured interview questions were used, and the answers audio recorded and transcribed. The teacher responses were analyzed and compared to the author's own experience as a male elementary …

Student-Centered Interpretation And Expression In The Large-Group Secondary Band Class, Mike Fedyszyn

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the learner-centered instruction of the interpretation of expressive elements in a large-group band class is closely examined in order to determine if secondary-level students primarily learning in a large-group setting are able to utilize their own interpretations in applying expressive elements to their own performances. During the spring of 2014, a focus group of 11 students from an eighth-grade band in southeastern Wisconsin were assessed by a panel of six evaluators who are experienced Wisconsin band directors. Evaluations consisted of audio-recorded performances of two short melodies, one being actively studied in the large-group classroom setting and one …

The 1600 Collection Of Madrigals By Thomas Weelkes, Rachel Linsey Albert

Theses and Dissertations

Thomas Weelkes in considered among the most important of the English madrigalists of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; however, little has been written about him. Modern scholarship begins with Edmund H. Fellowes's edition of Weelkes's madrigal publications. The only comprehensive study of Weelkes's life and works is David Brown's 1969 Thomas Weelkes: A Biographical and Critical Study. Most other Weelkes scholarship simply compares his music to that of his contemporaries. This thesis fills another gap in Weelkes studies by offering an analysis of his 1600 collection, Madrigals of 5 and 6 Parts, Apt for the Viols and Voices. …

Singer Identity In Adolescence, Trinny Lou Schumann

Theses and Dissertations

There is a prevalent and growing trend of adults labeling themselves as non-singers. This crisis of singer identity becomes a factor as music education programs strive to promote singing, especially community singing. This qualitative research study addressed the self-perceptions of singing identity, ability, and attitudes in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate how adolescent students view their own singing abilities in order to gain insight and understanding about what factors play an important role in the shaping of views about their own singing identity. Previous studies shaped the framework for this investigation. Studies reviewed included: (1) the …

Contemporary Commercial Music Pedagogy: Selective Exercises For Developing Healthy Technique In Adolescent Singers, Brittny Anne Kempfer

Theses and Dissertations

In the developing world of vocal science there are still varying opinions on proper vocal techniques. The classical tradition has been developing for many centuries, however, the area of contemporary commercial music is still in its relative infancy by comparison. Contemporary commercial music, or CCM, refers to all other genres that are non-classical in nature, for example: musical theater, jazz, pop, country, folk, rock, and gospel.

Many undergraduate vocal education programs are not addressing the pedagogical differences in approaches for CCM technique as compared to classical. This is causing educators, such as myself, to have no information about how to …