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Harmonicthreads: A Formative Evaluation Of A Fabric-Based Digital Musical Instrument Toward Inclusive Music-Making, Ellie Nguyen, Franceli L. Cibrian

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Background:

Inclusive music-making requires instruments that support varied bodies, abilities, musical backgrounds, and forms of participation. Digital musical instruments provide diverse approaches to sound creation, and fabric-based interfaces offer an alternative interaction modality that may support participation for some users and contexts. Their tactile and deformable properties enable forms of interaction that differ from conventional rigid or screen-based controllers and may offer inclusive possibilities in particular settings.

Objective:

This paper presents HarmonicThreads as a formative interaction-design case of a fabric-based digital musical instrument. The prototype explores how tactile cues, fabric deformation, projected visual feedback, and assisted accompaniment can support low-barrier …

Fast Discovery Of Motivic Patterns In Symbolic Music Via Lossy Compression, Adam James Wilson

Publications and Research

Generative systems that react to live musicians require rapid analysis of musical data, which rules out deep learning models: they cannot be trained within the time constraints of live performance. But because analysis results are often transformed before use, we are free to reduce the parameters that undergo transformation to a small set of primitive states. We address this coincidence of constraint and opportunity with an algorithm for online discovery of maximal musical motives that achieves speed through lossy compression: the pitch and inter-onset-interval deltas for all pairs of events in a potential motive are reduced to two-bit values, conceptualized …

Short Reflections: Production Of Mega Fäuna's Lp Softmore (2026), Guy Fenech

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This reflective practice journal documents my role as producer, recording engineer and mixer for softmore, the debut album by Sydney-based band Mega Fäuna, released through Blossom Rot Records in March 2026. The central focus of the reflection is the production methodology developed for the project, particularly an extensive pre-production phase using a compact, mobile recording setup that allowed compositional and arrangement decisions to be tested before entering a professional studio. This approach is considered against the five-day tracking session at Stranded Rec Studios, and against overdub sessions completed in a non-studio environment using contemporary restoration software to address environmental …

Vibe Diggers: The Sampling Of Brazilian Music In Hip-Hop, Romulo De Carvalho Moraes Barbosa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates the trend of musical borrowings of 1970s MPB (música popular brasileira) by contemporary American hip-hop producers, especially in terms of what they have called a “Brazilian vibe.” A lot has been said about sampling already from legal, sociological, and historical points of view, but less has been said about its aesthetic procedures, and even less about the wider implications of a tendency for using transnational sources. In the case of MPB, hip-hop artists seem to understand the music they sample through an often vague, intuitive representation, which fuses qualities of those recordings with an intersubjective mood, a …

Analyzing Harmony In Bulgarian And Bulgarian-Influenced Choral Arrangements From The Radio To The Screen, Annie Beliveau

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates developments in arrangements and compositions made for Bulgarian choirs between 1950 and 2025. Arrangements from Bulgaria’s communist period (1944-1989), when musical radio broadcasts were tailored to promote nationalist sentiment, eventually reached the ears of foreigners on the other side of the Iron Curtain via recordings and ensemble tours. These obrabotki (arrangements of folk tunes) became popular in the “world music” boom of the 1980s, and foreign composers soon began to create new compositions for Bulgarian choirs to sing on albums and in scores for film, television, and video games. Over time, the uses of Bulgarian choir in …

Waltzing Into Silence: Time, Space, And The Afterword In Ravel’S Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales In Comparison With Schumann’S Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, Nora I. Bartosik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation undertakes an analysis of Maurice Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales for piano against the backdrop of Robert Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, a work with significant parallels in structure, character, and narrative. The Davidsbündlertänze are examined as a model for the Valses nobles et sentimentales, with an emphasis on the two works’ use of the waltz form, their structure as a series of miniature dances composed as a single cohesive work, and their inclusion of an afterword, or epilogue. The analysis draws from the extensive literature on Schumann’s piano cycles in order to apply similar techniques to …

Symphonies That "Sing": Reevaluating Voices And Vocality In Mahler's Early Symphonies, Erin M. Johnston

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation considers the role of vocal music in Gustav Mahler’s early symphonies through the lens of the composer’s practice of self-borrowing. Mahler was known to use his own pre-existing songs as the basis for large-scale movements in his early symphonies. While scholars have long recognized the close relationship between Mahler’s songs and symphonies, existing studies have emphasized questions of biography, intertextuality, musical meaning, and quotation rather than sustained analytical investigations of vocal influence in Mahler’s large-scale symphonic forms. The present study places this vocality at the forefront of its analyses, arguing that Mahler’s reworking of his own Lieder is …

Performing Hybridity: Solo Cello Works By Diasporic Korean Composers Isang Yun And Younghi Pagh-Paan, Sarah Song

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation follows my personal exploration of solo cello works by Korean diasporic composers Isang Yun and Younghi Pagh-Paan. While the study of postwar Korean music has long been discussed within an “East meets West” framework, my research aims to abandon such divisive binaries and explores the activity between two musical cultures during learning and performance. By engaging with a wide network of meaning (e.g., score-based, extra-musical knowledge, historical context), I track cumulative layers of discovery while considering a multitude influences from Korean and Austro-Germanic cultures as a second-generation Korean American. My methodology includes a reflective approach categorized in two …

Object (Im)Permanence: Toward A Hauntology Of The Violin, Pala Garcia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Object (Im)permanence goes looking for the violin’s ontological uncertainties, its persistent historical specters, and its relation to things not fully present, no longer, or yet to come. Drawing on the history of the author’s own instrument as an inherited object, this study explores the violin’s strangest affordances: its capacity to hold a psychic charge, sustain absent presence, remotely activate somatic memory, and invite reciprocal relationality. Adapting the Derridean concept of “hauntology” as a framing for the violin’s spectral vitality, Object (Im)permanence imagines how a hauntology of the violin can account for its ontological uncertainties, logic of absent presence, and persistent …

Reimagining Folk Songs: A Bridge Between Tradition And Innovation In Georgy Sviridov’S Music, Polina Nazaykinskaya

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Georgy Sviridov (1915–1998), one of the most prominent Soviet composers of his generation, remains largely underrepresented in Western performance and scholarship. This dissertation examines the compositional language of Sviridov’s Kursk Songs (1964) through direct comparison with the seven folk songs published in Anna Rudneva’s 1957 collection Kurskie pesni that served as the work’s source material. The study addresses a central paradox of Sviridov’s musical language: how remarkably economical, predominantly diatonic materials can produce powerful and highly individual expressive results.

The analysis considers how Sviridov preserves essential characteristics of the folk sources while transforming their harmony, rhythm, form, texture, orchestration, and …

Urban Counterpoint (1992–2003): The Piano Music Of Ed Bland, Joseph Vaz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes the piano music of Ed Bland, a politically and philosophically vocal composer active in the second half of the twentieth century, whose music draws on both the European and American twentieth-century avant-garde, and on African American vernacular music genres from ragtime to hip-hop. A review of the historical and personal context for these pieces, and a detailed examination of the compositional processes used in this music, work together to demonstrate how Bland thought about the relationship between different musical genres and languages.

Through this combination of theory of musical genre, historical and biographical study, and detailed analysis …

Nāgasvaram Ensemble Music In Contemporary South India: Perspectives Of Revival, Rajeswari Ranganathan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a study of nāgasvaram ensemble music in South India based on ethnographic research in Tamil Nadu conducted between 2022 and 2026. Drawing from observations of its various performance contexts and extensive interviews with contemporary practitioners, teachers, students, impresarios, and archivists, this study examines how the aesthetics, social contexts, and circulation of nāgasvaram ensemble music have evolved over the last four decades. Countering prevalent narratives of its decline and highlighting its endurance, I argue that this musical practice is undergoing a revival, both shaped by and contributing to ongoing social transformations.

Nāgasvaram ensembles featuring the double-reed woodwind instrument …

Theoretical Analysis And Performance Interpretation In Thomas Adès’S Traced Overhead, Han Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While many post-tonal composers avoid any inkling of tonality by embracing dissonance or breaking tonal resolutions, Thomas Adès does not shy away from the traditional harmonies that strongly relate to tonal music, such as the circle of fifths, major and minor triads, and the horn-call motif, but adopts several intervallic systems that govern all the notes, including aligned cycles, parsimonious voice leading, and the twelve-tone aggregate.

To examine how Adès uses these intervallic systems to repurpose traditional harmonies, this dissertation presents a close tonal analysis of his solo piano work Traced Overhead. Integrating historical, pianistic, and extramusical contexts, this …

Representasi Identitas Dan Gastronomi Budaya Kuliner Jawa Dalam Lima Lagu Karya Ki Narto Sabdo, Aditya Pratama, Darmoko -, Ari Prasetiyo, Dwi Woro Retno Mastuti

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Culinary is not just food and drink, but has transformed into a study of culinary gastronomy which focuses on aspects of history, values, philosophy, taste and components. The study of the problems discussed in this research is related to the cultural identity of Javanese culinary gastronomy in the five songs by Ki Narto Sabdo. Descriptive qualitative research methods with an objective approach were applied in this research. This research uses Santich's culinary gastronomy theory and Stuart Hall's theory of cultural identity representation with a constructionist approach. As a result, the representation of Javanese culinary gastronomic cultural identity is built on …

Best Practices For Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching In The Elementary Music Classroom To Promote Student Equity, Inclusion, And Cultural Representation, Anne E. Champa

Graduate Teacher Education

This paper examined the best practices for incorporating culturally responsive teaching into the elementary music classroom to promote equity, inclusion, and cultural representation. As classrooms become more diverse, educators must adapt their curriculum and instructional practices to ensure all of their students' needs are met. Unlike regular classroom elementary school teachers, who work with a small group of students for the entire school year, elementary music teachers work with every student in the building. Therefore, elementary music teachers are in a unique position to effectively lead with a culturally responsive curriculum. This literature review was organized into three overarching themes …

Paragliding The Cliff Edge: Introducing Open Mic Studies. A Creative Response To Navigating The Post-18 Landscape For Young Adults With Send., James Tarling, Charlie Robinson, Nick Hall, Sammy Shepherd

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This conceptual article investigates novel ways of thinking about Open Mic Nights (OMN) – performance spaces understood as free, community arts and performance opportunities where the members of the public are welcome to perform music, poetry and comedy in front of an audience. For the purposes of this article, music-related OMN that take place in pubs or community centres are discussed.

The article is intended to be a primer for OMN studies that offers new and emerging trailheads for future research and discussion. Its central focus is how OMN may benefit the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) community with …

Jury Recognition Recital: August 25, 2026, Illinois State University School Of Music

School of Music Programs

This is the first program of the 2025-2026 season.

Kemp Recital Hall

August 25, 2026

Monday Evening

7:30 p.m.

Melodizing Modern Power: Giacomo Puccini And The Demands Of Thematic Development, Claire Kelly

Music Honors Projects

This paper examines Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s processes of thematic development in three operas, La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), and Il Tabarro (1918). Puccini’s thematic development has been a point of contention for many musicologists and critics. Critics of his own time found his thematic development style to be inconsistent; some regarded his melodies as fragmented and lacking cohesion. Since then, biographers and critics such as Michele Girardi, Mosco Carner, and Alexandra Wilson have reiterated and re-examined these claims. Taken together, my three case studies conclude that Puccini’s multivalent style of thematic development is meant to depict the various effects …

"Unsung Americans Sung" List Of Songs, W. C. Handy

Documents

List of songs in Unsung Americans Sung, a volume of African American music edited by W.C. Handy. The volume's thirty-eight songs range from ballads about specific historical figures, such as Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, to arrangement of poems like Langston Hughes' "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."

"Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled", Russell Smith, Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc.

Documents

Sheet music for the sacred solo "Let Not Your Heart Be Trouble" with lyrics derived from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. John. The sheet music was published by Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. and signed by W.C. Handy on December 30, 1946

"Opportunity," Signed Sheet Music, Walter Malone, W. C. Handy, Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc.

Documents

Sheet music for "Opportunity" with music by W.C. Handy and lyrics based on the poem by Walter Malone. The sheet music was published by the Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. and signed by W.C. Handy on December 30, 1946.

"How Like A Rose Is Love," Signed Sheet Music, Hal Hode, Peter Tinturin, Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc.

Documents

Sheet music to How Like a Rose is Love published by Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. and signed by W.C. Handy on December 30, 1946.

"How The First Song Was Born," Signed Sheet Music, Alexander Hill, Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc.

Documents

Sheet music for the Alexander Hill Ballad "How the First Song was Born" published by Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. and signed by W.C. Handy on December 30, 1946.

Obituary & Memorial Article, The Florence Times

Documents

Obituary and memorial article entitled "Father of the Blues: W.C. Handy, Famed Composer Dies; Florence Native" derived from The Florence Times. Handy passed way at Sydenham Hospital in New York following admission to the hospital with bronchial pneumonia. The article recounts memories from community members of Handy's youth in Florence and lasting influence on the community.

"Pasadena: Romanza Occidental," Signed Sheet Music, W. C. Handy

Documents

Sheet music for "Pasadena: Romanza Occidental" with lyrics and music by W.C. Handy. The composition was published by Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. and signed by W.C. Handy.

"Shine Like A Mornin' Star," Signed Sheet Music, W. C. Handy

Documents

Sheet music arranged by W.C. Handy for the unrecorded spiritual "Shine Like a Mornin' Star" published by Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. and signed by Handy on December 30, 1946.

"Twenty-Third Psalm," Signed Sheet Music, Lillian Evanti, Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc.

Documents

Sheet music for the "Twenty-Third Psalm" arranged by Lillian Evanti. The arrangement was published by Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. and signed by W.C. Handy on December 30, 1946.

"There's A Red Glow In The Sky Above Vesuvius," Signed Sheet Music, Andy Razaf, William C. Handy, Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc.

Documents

Sheet music for "There's a Red Glow in the Sky Above Vesuvius: A Timely Plea for Universal Peace" published by the Handy Brothers Music Co. Inc. The title and arrangement are by W.C. Handy, who signed the copy.

Annotated Broadway Daily News Clipping Featuring Handy, Danton Walker

Documents

Annotated excerpt from the Broadway Daily News that discusses William C. Handy and his home in Yonkers, New York.

Collier Library Archives Adds Music To Collection, Laura Jane Jenkins, Greg Biggers

Documents

News article about the edition of fifteen original pieces of sheet music signed by W.C. Handy music to the archives at Collier Library through Alice Nolen's donation of the Nolen Collection in memory of Mrs. Gerdes Brown Nolen.