Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Discussion Of The Tubman Arias From The Opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line To Freedom, Mahari Allene Marie Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

Nkeiru Okoye (1972-) is an American composer of operas and orchestral works whose concert and theatrical compositions have gained extensive recognition in recent years. Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom is Okoye’s most well- known opera for which she composed the music and penned the libretto. Through her compositions, Okoye bravely addresses political and racial issues and tells the stories of well-known Black figures, such as Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was a prolific American hero that led runaway slaves toward freedom. For approximately a decade, she risked her life traveling to and from the South to …

Second-Grade Students’ Lived Experiences During Formal And Informal Music Learning Activities, Celina Liana Reed

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, elementary music educators have led their classrooms using predominantly formal, teacher-led activities. Recently, music educators have allowed students to organize their own informal music learning activities. Few researchers have examined elementary students’ lived experiences during formal and informal music activities. My education and 9 years of early childhood and elementary music teaching experiences contribute to my research qualifications. The purpose of this research was to examine my second-grade students’ lived experiences during formal and informal music learning activities. Following were the guiding research questions: (a) What do second-grade students think and how do they feel during formal music learning …

Kodály Learning: A Qualitative Case Study Based On The Use Of A Blended Curriculum Using The Principles Of Zoltán Kodály In Beginning Piano Study, Megan Elizabeth Rich

Theses and Dissertations

This paper and its corresponding study were created to explore the effectiveness of the Kodály Method on traditional piano lessons and to hone a curriculum with long-term student musicianship at its core. The curriculum was written for a six-week period and intended for students ages six–eight years old. The curriculum follows the melodic and rhythmic sequences of the Kodály Method and blends these sequences with traditional approaches to beginning piano lessons. The purpose of the study is to share and evaluate this curriculum and its results as they pertain to the four study participants.

The study was conducted over a …

Demystifying The Choral Music Of Herbert Howells: A Pedagogical Approach Via Selected Works, Michael Ballard

Theses and Dissertations

The music of Herbert Howells is a mystery for many choral musicians. Howells’s popularity in England is unquestioned, but knowledge of his music has grown slowly in the United States. While the BBC Singers’ performance of Requiem in 1980 brought new enthusiasm for his music and the Requiem, he is still seldom performed in the United States outside of small circles which are generally in Anglican or Episcopalian communities. This is likely due to lack of exposure to his music and the perception that the music is inaccessible and mysterious. Some of Howells’s more complex music is inaccessible for …

Fourth-Grade Music Students' Perceptions Of Music Improvisation: An Ethnographic Case Study, Ashley Elizabeth Cobb

Theses and Dissertations

I facilitated this ethnographic case study to better understand potential successes and difficulties music improvisation presents in music facilitating and learning from the student perspective. The purpose of this research was to examine my fourth-grade students’ perceptions of music improvisation via improvisatory music circles using the following guiding research questions. Regarding 30-minute improvisatory music circles: 1) How do fourth-grade students (a) define music improvisation, (b) respond to facilitator-selected improvisatory music activities during improvisatory music circles, and (c) make decisions while participating in improvisatory music circles? 2) How did those students’ perceptions change throughout data collection?

I collected data from five …

"If The Gyil Has Died, Dagara Itself Has Died": On The Relationship Of Dagara Music, Food, And Costume, Gordon Cortney

Honors College Undergraduate Theses

The Dagara people, located primarily in the Upper West region of Ghana, take pride in their careful preservation of traditional customs, amidst years of brutal colonization and ethnocide. Previous ethnomusicological research has recognized the gyil, a Ghanaian xylophone, as the focal point of Dagara society, noting how it interacts with and is inherent in all aspects of their culture. Recent developments to the gyil’s design, practice, and performance have created concern for a lost or dying culture among the Dagara. If the gyil is experiencing change, then so too is the rest of Dagara culture. In June and July 2022, …

Place And Placelessness: An Ecocritical Approach Towards The Mountain Imagery In Country Music, Siyuan Ma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drawing upon cultural geographer Yi-Fu Tuan’s frame of place and placelessness, this ecocritical project explores how the mountain landscapes serve to construct regional, national, cultural, spiritual, religious, even racialized identities in various human societies. Using the U.S. country music as a primary example, I argue that what country music fundamentally draws from the imagery of the Appalachian Mountains is not the Anglo-Saxon ballad music or pastoral lifestyle of/from the mountains, but the powerful sense of place and placelessness (arguably only) the mountainous scenes are capable to provoke. This exploration serves to illuminate the commonalties between humanities of different cultures and …

An Exploration Of The Big Five Traits And Effective Private Music Teachers, Christopher James Ozorio

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite research studies on the dispositions of successful music educators, few studies have been published on the relationship between Big Five traits and successful private music instructors in a for-profit setting. By documenting these findings, educators will gain insights into effective traits, enabling them to refine their approach to music lessons in a private business setting. The author identifies this specific area of music education as needing to be explored and documented through qualitative research. Surveyed instructors from Arizona (N=12) indicate a significant correlation between high scores on certain traits of the Big Five and success in the private teaching …

Teaching Instruments To Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Students, Angelina Kim

Masters Theses

This curriculum project provides information regarding teaching musical instruments to Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students in elementary school settings. Previous studies have addressed teaching DHH students reading, writing, and general music, but not much on implementing musical instruments for DHH students. In this study, the researcher will have extensive document reviews on the importance of music education for DHH students and identify the ways to teach DHH students about instrument playing. Furthermore, the researcher will prepare lesson plans teaching musical instruments for DHH students in elementary music classrooms and add more data for analysis. The results of this …

Funding Allocations Concerning Composition Creation Standards, Garrett L.H. Robertson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to provide applied research data showing either a correlation or no correlation between the amount of school funding allocation for music education programs in various elementary, middle, and high schools and pedagogical approaches associated with elementary, middle, and high school student’s ability to carry out composition creation relating to the Nation Coalition for Core Art Standards. Additionally, it provides applied research data on how music educators should perceive their effectiveness regarding the quality of school funding. By examining historical evidence through multiple studies, the research data will be able to help conclude if a …

Understanding Millennial Women Worship Leaders’ Perceptions Of Full-Time Ministry Through Their Lived Experiences, Katie Sheree Lenehan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Millennials are the largest employed generation. Yet, with more women in vocational worship ministry than ever, roadblocks remain for Millennial women seeking to thrive and last in this sphere. There becomes a need to understand the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical challenges uniquely facing the Millennial woman worship leader, for these challenges are not necessarily new but certainly are unique in ferocity and how they present themselves to the Millennial woman. Understanding Millennial women worship leaders’ lived experiences becomes vital in retaining and promoting healthy ministry practices that enable long-term vocational success.

The Relationship Between Overtime And Burnout Among Alabama Secondary Music Ensemble Directors, Ashley Deleen Gresko

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although there is an existing body of literature discussing stress and burnout among music educators, there has yet to be a significant study regarding the relationship between working hours and the burnout of secondary music ensemble directors. This study covers the perspectives of secondary school instrumental and choral music ensemble directors in Alabama. This quantitative research study identifies influences of overtime that require additional exploration regarding the burnout of Alabama secondary school music ensemble directors. This study surveyed secondary music ensemble directors in Alabama to illustrate the correlation between overtime and burnout. This study is vital to music ensemble directors …

Hip Hop Performing Arts Charter Schools: The Future Of Arts Education In Predominantly Non-White, Low Income, Underserved Rural Areas Of Louisiana, Anthony P. Shelton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Some still view arts education as a non-essential extracurricular activity despite its benefits. Even though the Every Student Succeeds Act acknowledges arts education is a healthy and well-rounded subject, local, district, and state administrators still control budget allocation and cuts, which generally affect arts education. There has also been a decline or lack of interest in traditional learning methods in the arts and core subjects. Alternative student learning forms have shown benefits in suburban, urban, and inner-city schools. Still, there is little information about these methods in predominantly non-white rural schools. Research using qualitative methods examines the potential effectiveness of …

Creating Thinking Classrooms In Music Education: Teacher And Student Perspectives Of Twenty-First-Century Instruction, Dave Mcgarry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite changes to provincial documents in British Columbia, many music educators still rely on traditional teaching methods. This convergent mixed methods case study aimed to understand student and teacher perspectives on twenty-first-century instruction in the music classroom, providing insights to enhance and enrich experiences in musical learning. Data were collected from thirty-one students in a singular grade nine to twelve instrumental band class through interviews, lesson journals, direct observations, surveys, student artifacts, field notes, and pre-and post-test measures. The study analyzed students' musical self-confidence inventories and examined the effects of a twenty-first-century student-centered curriculum over six weeks. This curriculum emphasized …

The Role Of Pre-Collegiate Mentorship Programs In Orchestra Teacher Recruitment In South Carolina, Tamar Ben-Pazi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The looming crisis of teacher shortages has garnered attention from music education stakeholders worldwide. The search for causation and resolution of this critical issue has inspired innovative approaches to hiring, training, and the support of professional educators. While mentoring has been lauded by education experts as an essential component of educator career fulfillment, and mentorship programs designed for novice teachers have been recognized within the profession's ranks as effective tools in this pursuit, there has been little research evaluating the impact of mentorship programs designed to identify and recruit pre-collegiate future educators. This study aims to advance the cause for …

The Qualitative Ethnographic Research Of The Relationship Related To Parental Involvement, Community Support, And School Administrative Substructure Amid To Inner-City Title-I High School Band Programs In Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas Akil Perry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative ethnographic research investigated the fundamental unsubstantiated relationship related to parental involvement, community support, and school administrative substructure amid two inner-city Title-I high school band programs. This qualitative research embraced an ethnographic process managed by anthropology and sociology approached framework geared to study cultural responses over some time based on similar analytical cultural statistics. This study depicts the socioeconomic domain of a high school band community, highlighting key factors that add to the success and decline of the inner-city and Title-I high school band programs. It was conducted within Memphis, TN, within the North Memphis region, outlining the Raleigh, …

Determining Factors For College Music Major Success In Small Liberal Arts Colleges And Universities: Perspectives From Students And Faculty, Spencer James Nance

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Deciding to major in music can be daunting for any college student. Students often go through a lengthy audition process, which sometimes includes multiple schools, to receive scholarship offers to major in music. When students arrive on campus, they may experience many challenges that impact their future success in the music major program. These challenges far too often overwhelmed the students and caused them to lose their scholarships, discontinue their studies in music, or switch to another major. There have been studies involving student success within the first year of college. Yet very few studies still measure the success of …

Dowlandia: Leafing Through Grapes’S New Research Guide, Katharyn R. Benessa

Soundboard Scholar

A review of John Dowland: A Research and Information Guide, by K. Dawn Grapes (New York: Routledge, 2020)

“And The People Sang In All The Ways Of The City:” A Speculative Ethnomusicology Of Gondor, Kelsey A. Fuller-Shafer

Journal of Tolkien Research

The music of Gondor is one of the more elusive musical traditions in Middle-earth, described only briefly throughout the text of The Lord of the Rings, and thus often neglected in scholarship on music in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. However, an ethnomusicological line of inquiry brings to the fore questions of performance, perception, and meaning that contribute to our interpretations of the many levels of symbolic transformation seen in Gondor at the beginning of the Fourth Age. The evidence of both musical activity and silence in Gondor mirrors conclusions that have been documented in real-world ethnomusicological studies in …

You Never Walk Alone: Bts As A Symbol Of Light For Youth, Aaliyah Robinson

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This essay examines how the South Korean music group, BTS, has utilized their platform to bring awareness to mental health in youth. I specifically analyze the use of their personal stories and experiences as a means of communication or outreach to their fans, also known as the ARMY. Exploring the theory of identification, or a direct sense of connectedness between a speaker and an audience, I argue that through their music and personalized rhetoric speech patterns, BTS seeks to allow their fans to view their experiences as the same. This has created a dynamic encompassing a sense of friendship and …

New Light On Sagrini, Richard M. Long

Soundboard Scholar

Reviews of a new biography of Luigi Sagrini (1809–1874) and a volume of his guitar works:

Bernard Lewis and Robert Coldwell, In Search of Luigi Sagrini (DGA, 2021)

Robert Coldwell, ed., The Music of Luigi Sagrini (DGA, 2021)

The Pedagogical Impact Of Injury Through The Experiences Of Three Professional Trombonists, Caleb Owenby

Dissertations

As the stigma surrounding performance-related injuries in the brass community is slowly lifting, more musicians are openly seeking assistance for injuries, more musicians are willing to share their experiences with injury, and the musical community is becoming more knowledgeable in the realm of musician health. This research is aimed at preventing future dysfunctions in brass players, offering avenues of recovery for musicians currently experiencing an injury, and examining the current state of trombone pedagogy through the experiences of three performing trombonists.

Megumi Kanda, Colin Williams, and David Vining are professional trombonists and educators who have experienced an embouchure dysfunction or …

Community Outreach: A Piano Concert Designed For Children, Hsin Shih Liu

Dissertations

Evidence exists that music community outreach has been practiced for at least around a century in Western countries. However, in Taiwan, the idea of music community outreach is relatively new and not as commonly seen as in the United States. This research provides mention of community outreach organizations and individuals in Taiwan and the United States. Additionally, it is aimed to assist in designing more successful programs in the future. Included in this dissertation are a methodology of designing an effective concert program for children and the concert feedback form provided to the participants. This project featured three piano concerts …

Melodic Memories: A Guidebook To Enhance Dementia Care Through Music, Sofia Phillips, Mary Smith, Angela Blackwell

Summer 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

This project focused on developing a guidebook titled Melodic Memories, designed to help occupational therapy (OT) practitioners incorporate occupation-based musical interventions into their practice. The guidebook aims to enhance occupational engagement (OE) and quality of life (QoL) for individuals with dementia residing in long-term care facilities. The presentation explores the impact of dementia on individuals, including how it affects their OE and QoL, and highlights the challenges posed by long-term care environments. It also emphasizes the therapeutic potential of music in improving dementia care for OT practitioners. The development of Melodic Memories was based on the Lived Environment Life …

Out Of Many, One Voice: A Fundamental Map To Performing Shirley J. Thompson's Opera—Women Of The Windrush, Danielle Rosann Watson

Doctoral Projects

Women of the Windrush, composed by Shirley J. Thompson, is a mono-opera for soprano, film, and chamber orchestra. Thompson uses Women of the Windrush to rewrite history and effect change in the way women are portrayed in opera—from weak characters to heroic figures. A prolific composer of pure originality, Thompson has made her music accessible through written compositions and successful performances. As one of the leading composers in England, Thompson is progressively recognized for her contributions to the body of music literature, nationally and internationally. This doctoral project seeks to promote women composers and undertakes the significant contributions of …

Leavers And Movers: Turnover Of Music Teachers In Nebraska, Christian G. Schuerman

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

The purpose of this study was to determine if the rates of music teachers leaving the teaching profession and changing schools were significantly different than those of teachers of other content areas in the state of Nebraska. This study used data from the previous nine years of the Nebraska Department of Education’s Education Directory in order to find results for the entire population. Results indicated that music teachers leave the profession at similar rates as teachers of other content areas, but move schools at significantly higher rates.

Advisor: Robert H. Woody

Expanding "Standards" Through Embracing Diversity: The Clarinet Quintets Of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Joyce Solomon Moorman, And James Lee Iii, Lauren Miller

Dissertations

Diversity in music education has been a long-standing discussion amongst educators. This document advocates for the recognition and acceptance of the intrinsic and extrinsic values of diverse peoples and their musical contributions while creating tolerance and respect. The focus lies with three composers, two African American and one African English, in service of promoting inclusion for composers of minority groups within the clarinet repertoire.

The goal is to expand standard clarinet repertoire, with “standard” defined as compositions considered important in building a well-rounded clarinetist in America, to include works such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in F-sharp …

More Than Windows And Mirrors: Using Culturally Responsive Teaching In Conjunction With Project Based Learning, Victoria Dimarzio

Master's Theses

This qualitative action research project examined the connections between broadening students' cultural perspectives and student voice and choice while students explored how multicultural arrangements can be authentic and valuable to a student’s music education. The following research questions were

Q1 How do students perceive world music arrangements?

Q2 How will participation in this project impact students’ sense of belonging in music class?

Q3 How do musicians and music educators determine if arrangements are appropriate to use/perform?

The purpose of this study was to explore students' perception of world music arrangements, their sense of belonging in instrumental (band and orchestra) music …

Gustav Mahler’S Naturlaut In The Anthropocene: A Musical Landscape Of Early Environmentalism, Alexis Rose

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of the perceived roles and potential functions of music and art in environmental movements. I focus on Gustav Mahler, a composer historically associated with nature, as a case study of the relationship between nature and art in Austro-German Romanticism and early environmentalism. In the first chapter, I connect Mahler’s idea of nature as influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, and Arthur Schopenhauer to the ideas and rhetoric of nineteenth-century environmentalists in Austria and Germany. This context serves as the background for my second chapter, in which I analyze Mahler’s Seventh Symphony through an ecocritical lens. …

Martin Bresnick's “Bitter Suite” Duo For Violin And Piano, Xun Xu

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

This document is intended to be a practical tool for those interested in performing, researching, and cultivating an acute understanding of Martin Bresnick’s Bitter Suite Duo for Violin and Piano. A composer working within varying neoclassical and modern idioms, Bresnick has merited many accolades, from the Rome Prize to a Guggenheim to the American Academy of Arts and Letters' first-ever Charles Ives Living Award.

The first movement of Bitter Suite was commissioned by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bresnick enjoyed composing this movement and was inspired to write three additional movements, transforming the commission …