Digital Commons Network^™

On Antonio Vivaldi And His La Primavera, Largo E Pianissimo Simpre, Mary E. Osterman

Undergraduate Research Journal

Antionio Vivaldi’s Concerto No. 1 for Violin and String Orchestra, Largo e pianissimo sempre, Op. 8, No. 1, nicknamed "Spring", influenced program music and concertos in the Baroque period and is a leading example for composers through later eras (Talbot, 2020). Vivaldi’s use of instrumentation, color, dynamics, experimental sounds, and rhythm helped him to achieve the development of program music that was advanced for his time (Vivaldi, 1725). The concerto style grew increasingly popular in Italy and France, making other composers take heed of how Vivaldi wrote for solo instruments (Talbot, 2020). Vivaldi strategically stripped away the instrumentation and …

Caladrius: Creating A Playable Game Via A Multimedia Experience, Isabelle Morgan Brookshire

Whittier Scholars Program

Caladrius: Creating a Playable Game via a Multimedia Experience hones in on making an experience through different forms of media to represent a game. If this project was fully funded and done, it would be a video game on Steam with an art exhibition, small poetry book, and novel accompanied with it. It would even have a show, a soundtrack, and merch. But at this level, it was to make an experience for my audience that they could experience whether or not they enjoyed video games as a concept. I wanted them to enjoy 'playing' within a physical exhibition and …

Proud To Be Lao: Examining Lao American Identity Through Transnational Music And Performance, Zechary Phouthavong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For some time, Lao popular music has not received the same global recognition as other genres emerging out of Asia, such as K-Pop and Bollywood. In recent years, however, Lao-pop artists like Thinlamphone and Zamio P have broken onto the global stage, with music that showcases a unique blend of traditional Lao instrumentation with hip-hop, pop, and R&B styles. This emerging trend is particularly poignant for Lao Americans, as Lao-pop allows for Lao Americans to negotiate their experiences of being both Lao and American, further signifying its importance to constructing identity. This thesis explores the unique process of Lao Americans …

The History And Legacy Of The Monterey Jazz Festival, Ana Mendez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Monterey Jazz Festival holds a strong legacy in the world of jazz. Nestled in the Monterey Bay area, the festival's musical lineups entertain locals and travelers from around the world each year. Topics that are discussed within this paper are the inception of the festival, Monterey before the festival, Monterey Jazz Festival co-founders, Jimmy Lyons and Ralph Gleason, major works of art debuts at the festival including The Real Ambassadors, the international influence at the festival, the educational endeavors of the Monterey Jazz Education Team, and the 2025 rebranding of "Monterey Jazz".

Pro Rege Chr. Brass Band: A Century Of Sound, Jonathan T.J. Henneveld

Dissertations

The Christian Brass Band Pro Rege of Heerenveen, The Netherlands, celebrated its one hundredth birthday in 2024. As one of the most prominent community-based brass bands in the region, Pro Rege is part of a Dutch wind ensemble tradition that goes largely undocumented. While they and other bands like them function as cultural and educational institutions, academic literature remains limited, almost ignoring them completely. This dissertation wishes to address this oversight by providing an historical study of the brass band from its establishment in 1924 to the present day.

Starting out in the Dutch ensemble tradition of the Fanfare band, …

The Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference: Breaking Down Constructed Borderlands, Melissa Rios

Music ETDs

Despite its significant contribution to the educational mariachi movement in the United States, the history of the Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference (LCIMC), established in 1994, remains largely absent from existing scholarship. This study offers a historical account of mariachi music in Las Cruces and the development of the LCIMC, establishing a foundation for future research on mariachi music in the Mesilla Valley. Distinct from other mariachi conferences that emerged at the turn of the 21st century, the LCIMC was shaped by its location in a border city in New Mexico. Conceptualizing both physical borders and metaphorical border spaces as …

The Harvey Pittel Saxophone Quartet: Its History And Legacy In American Saxophone Quartet Performance, James M. Lawhn

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The saxophone quartet has emerged as a legitimate chamber ensemble in the United States through the sustained efforts of a small number of pioneering professional groups. Despite the central role these ensembles have played in shaping repertoire, performance standards, and public perception, their histories have often gone undocumented. Among the most influential of these groups is the Harvey Pittel Saxophone Quartet, an ensemble that maintained an unusually active national and international touring career for nearly four decades and helped establish the saxophone quartet as a viable professional model.

This document addresses a significant gap in the scholarly literature by presenting …

The Role Of Music In Storytelling, Eliot Z. Tenberg

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Music is often thought of as a background element in storytelling, something that enhances a scene but is not essential to its meaning. However, this perspective overlooks the powerful role music plays in shaping how stories are understood and experienced. Across film, theater, and even interactive media, music does far more than accompany images or dialogue. It actively guides emotional response, constructs narrative meaning, and connects audiences to stories on a deeper psychological level. Unlike visual or verbal storytelling alone, music has the unique ability to communicate emotion without explicit explanation. A shift in melody, harmony, or rhythm can signal …

Volume 17, Christian O’Neill, Kyara Greene, Savva Sidorov, Laura Bisaillon, Luke Clemmer, Hannah Gordon, Kitt Benson, Taylor Blount, Rachel Danzitz, Nicholas Duellman, Chase Gionis, Hima Fernando, Seth Franzyshen, Onyx Gonzalez, Bryan Lin, Samantha Start, Ysabel Wells, Maggie Duncan

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction Dr. Amorette Barber, Director, Office of Student Research

From the Editor Dr. Hannah Dudley-Shotwell

Cover Artist’s Statement Maggie Duncan

On Mentoring Dr. Yulia Uryadova

Ukrainian Resistance in the Face of Russification: Nestor Makhno and Anarchism

by Christian O’Neill

Life Vest by Kyara Greene

Isolation and 16S rRNA Identification of Bacteria from Fire Department Connection Pipe by Savva Sidorov

The Effectiveness of Planned Exercise in Reducing ADHD Symptoms in Children by Laura Bisaillon & Luke Clemmer

Linguistic Analysis on Confidence and Communication Strategies with Disparities Between Sign Fluency and Hearing Impairment by Hannah Gordon

Freedmen in Indian Territory by Kitt …

The Changed Woman: Analyzing Narrative Parallels In The Stories Of Biblical Women And Musical Theatre Heroines, Finleigh Klein

Honors Projects

Musical theatre has become popular with audiences around the world. Many musicals contain stories of hope and overcoming obstacles, especially in narratives concerning young women. Since the Bible also contains a wealth of stories that focus on strong women, it is interesting to consider what connections may be found between the women represented in this ancient text and the female characters in various musical theatre productions.

With these potential connections in mind, I ask the question: how is the Biblical trope of the uplifting of women represented in songs sung by female characters in musical theatre? Furthermore, how can the …

Guide To The Jean Stor Collection, Columbia College Chicago

CBMR Collection Guides / Finding Aids

Jean Stor was the pseudonym of William Astor Morgan (1890-1961). He was a composer, conductor, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, publisher, and teacher who lived and worked primarily in New York City. The collection consists of the handwritten and reproduced manuscripts of most of Stor’s major compositions, as well as a limited number of personal papers, published scores, writings, correspondence, photographs, and recordings.

Musical Affinities Between Ann Southam's Glass Houses And Canadian Fiddle Tunes With Performance Considerations For Glass Houses No. 5, Evangelia Nikolaidou

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Ann Southam stands as one of Canada’s foremost minimalist composers. Her fifteen-piece piano set Glass Houses, composed in 1981 and revised in 2009, reflects the joyful, dance-like energy of Canadian fiddle music that inspired it. While Glass Houses has frequently been discussed within the context of minimalist composition, less attention has been given to the ways in which the work resonates with Canadian fiddle traditions. This document draws on existing scholarship on Métis, French-Canadian, Newfoundland, Anglo-Canadian, and Scottish fiddle traditions to trace and clarify structural, rhythmic, and textural affinities between Canadian fiddle tunes and Glass Houses. Focusing on …

Critical Edition Of El Libertador: A Symphonic Poem By Costa Rican Composer Julio Mata (1899–1969), Manuel Monge Mata

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This project offers a critical edition of El Libertador, a symphonic poem composed by Costa Rican artist Julio Mata Oreamuno (1899–1969). The piece holds special importance in Costa Rican orchestral music and represents the symphonic poem genre in Latin American compositions. Although Mata is acknowledged as a key figure in the growth of Costa Rican musical institutions and composition during the twentieth century, much of his orchestral work remains rarely performed and not easily accessible to today’s performers.

The edition is based on manuscript sources kept in the Archivo Histórico Musical of the University of Costa Rica, consisting of …

Powwow Sound: The Differences Between Northern And Southen Style Music, Alison P. Walker

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The purpose of this study was to observe the music performed at Powwows and the differences of the sound according to region.

I examined the changes based on region that made the style of music performed different.

Does Traditional Music From Different Cultures Affect Sleep Quality Differently?, Keiarra J. Gonzales

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Sleep is crucial for maintaining a balanced metabolism and managing appetite, blood sugar, and diabetes. There are many global sleep challenges among college students, which includes what level of priority sleep is in college populations. Therefore, this study covers the topic question Does Traditional Music From Different Cultures Affect Sleep Quality Differently. Furthermore, this study will include peer-reviewed articles, comparison of musical traditions, and analysis of tempo, instrumentation, and cultural familiarity.

Lisa Cristiani: A Survey And Analysis Of Her Musical Travels Through The Russian Empire (1848-1853), Emilia González Dorantes

LSU Master's Theses

Information about French cellist Lisa Cristiani (1825–1853) and her travels through Imperial Russia has mainly reached us thanks to two articles in French periodicals published around the first decade since her death. These sources prioritized the journey itself, centering the narrative on her travels rather than on her musical activities. Recent scholarship on Cristiani has expanded our previously limited knowledge about her life. Scholars such as Hoffmann (2011) and Deserno (2018) have focused on biographical and feminist analysis, and DeVries (2014) has unveiled new documents from Russian sources. Nonetheless, a detailed examination of her musical performances within Imperial Russia has …

The History, Development, And Continual Evolution Of The Percussion Theatre Genre, Steven L. Wimberley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

During the twentieth century, artists in every discipline sought to create new, original art that would both challenge societal norms and expand their respective art to new extremes. This expansion in contemporary music saw the emergence of electronics, chance elements, “found sounds,” speaking, acting, and physical gestures. As we continue through the twentieth century, we also see the onset of the percussionist as an independent musical artist and a desire for original music for percussion. The intersection of these new developments created what is known as percussion theatre.

Percussion theatre can be broadly defined as a genre of musical composition …

Japanese Music Theory, Elias N. Nichols

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This research project explores Japanese music theories. By analyzing the basic components of Japanese music, including historical and modern approaches, this presentation demonstrates the similarities and differences in the formation of music in western thought when compared to the methodology of Japan. This research dives deep into tones, scales, melodic approaches, historical development and the effect on modern compositions today. This project informs the audience on the nuances of Japanese music theories in the hope to dispel stereotypes about music theories from different cultures, apart from western thought.

William: The Musical, Tyler C. Green

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

William: The Musical is the story of my parents’ struggle, and unfathomable loss while trying to start a family. The work follows the couple through their commitment to start a family together, through a devastating miscarriage, and up to the birth of my older brother, William. The work is still in progress, but is currently structured as a song-cycle including five songs in the style of contemporary musical theater. William: The Musical explores themes of loss and resilience, bringing to light the disturbingly common experience of miscarriage. While the creative goal aims to allow audiences to reflect and mourn their …

Msh 115 - World Music Writing Intensive, Margaret Farrell

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus guided our exploration of music around the globe. In this writing intensive section, music served as a means to internalize information through writing as well as inspiration for developing a clear and persuasive writing style. Our investigations included consideration the forms of the music as well as their cultural and historical contexts.

‘It’S The Best Person For The Job’: Gendering Logic And The Hiring Practices Of Music Organisations In Ireland, Yvonne Kiely Dr

Irish Communication Review

Despite calls for reform in the allocation of jobs in music industries, little is known about how music organisations operate internally and the day-to-day realities that male and female workers must navigate. Findings of bullying and harassment in the arts sector by the Irish Theatre Institute prompted the Irish government in 2022 to issue a set of recommendations aimed at reforming the working conditions and gender divisions of labour of arts sector organisations under its remit. These recommendations were made in the absence of academic studies of music organisations in Ireland, and in the absence of centralised data about these …

The Way Of The Moderns: Six Perspectives On Modernism In Music, Edited By Antoni Pizà, Rob Haskins

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Chapter 3. The Remarkable Career Of Leonard Slatkin, Robert S. Freeman

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Contributors To Issue 7

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

William Vincent Wallace: Composer, Virtuoso And Traveller, By Andrew Lamb. West Byfleet, Uk: Fullers Wood Press, 2012 [Review]., Philip C. Carli

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Berlioz And His World, Edited By Francesca Brittan And Sarah Hibberd. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2024 [Review]., Peter Bloom

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Coda: On My Six Experiments In Conjoining (And Contrasting) Two Composers, James Porter

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

The author has previously published six essays, each based on a novel technique: pairing one piece each from two different composers, in an attempt at teasing out important implications of these (mostly little-known) works. These implications would have been harder to glean if one focused instead, as is normally done, on a small number of oft-performed canonical works by a few great masters.

The present “Coda” offers reflections on the implications of those six essays for a continuing exploration of important themes in the history of Western art music, including romanticism, modernism, “progress,” tonality, text-music relations, and nationalism (including the …

Helen Beach Jones, The Eurydice Club, And Women Musicians In Early Toledo, Ohio, Mary Natvig

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

Toledo, Ohio native Helen Beach Jones (1857–1940) was a professionally trained church organist, choral conductor, and music teacher who paved the way for northwest Ohio’s art-music community today. Her story sheds light on the vibrant community of women musicians living in Toledo, Ohio, at the turn of the twentieth century, and as the founder and director of the Eurydice Club, a women’s chorus that was one of the city’s earliest and most prestigious music ensembles, she provided a home for women musicians throughout the region that lasted far longer than her tenure as conductor. In addition to her choral work, …

Taruskin’S Great Contributions And A Few Shortcomings, Ralph P. Locke

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

Among the most needed, and durable, features of Richard Taruskin’s life’s work was his consistent interpretation of music and music-making within and against their societal and cultural contexts. This stood in contrast to the positivistic methodologies that German, British, and American musicology valued in the 1960s–70s: instances of the latter include the making of reliable critical editions and, in a very different sense, various “the notes only” methods of music analysis.

The breadth of Taruskin’s vision and his command of musical and cultural history are apparent in the enormous “Nationalism” entry in the 2001 edition of Grove (now available at …

Transforming “The Ox”, Christopher Gibbs

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

This reminiscence recounts my experience transforming Richard Taruskin’s six-volume The Oxford History of Western Music into a single-volume textbook. At Taruskin’s suggestion, I was approached in 2005 by Oxford University Press to see if I was interested in taking on the daunting task of drastically abridging, extensively reshaping, and judiciously augmenting his monumental history. I did so with practical considerations in mind: limitations on space, concrete pedagogical aims, and sharing his desire to tell a compelling story. I worked with editors of the accompanying anthologies and recordings to decide which compositions should receive particular attention and emphasis. In this article, …