Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Utilizing Journaling To Develop A Personalized And Efficient Musical Practice Regimen, Erin Kilpatrick

Honors Theses

Musicians universally agree that practicing consistently is vital to improvement. However, a lot of young musicians do not understand how to practice effectively. There are many factors that influence practice time, focus, and overall learning. For the purpose of this research, I will define “efficient practicing” as any practice that increases development as a player and encourages the player to continue in pursuit of learning music. This encompasses physical aspects like ligature, reed, mouthpiece, and the horn itself, as well as more broad musicianship fundamentals such as developing a characteristic tone, building technique, and learning how to phrase appropriately, must …

Exploring The Collegiate Choir Participant's Values Within Ensemble Performances, Kaelyn Hunter

Honors Theses

This study examined how collegiate choral ensemble participants viewed their highest quality performance and their favorite performance. Examining characteristics of performances may encourage conversations about performance values between directors and students. Limited research has been done about musicians’ views, as getting accurate and in-the-moment documentation of how musicians feel about their performances is challenging. To provide more insight into this previously understudied topic, this study aimed to explore the musicians’ perspectives on their performances and how their emotions and repertoire are intertwined.

The Primary Investigator (PI) conducted an anonymous study among the 2022–2023 choral ensemble participants at The University of …

Experimenting With Colors In Music: Making And Breaking Rules In The Butterfly Effect, Chloe King

Honors Theses

The following thesis is a culmination of four years of academic and musical development as a percussionist at the University of Mississippi. It offers a discussion and analysis of my original composition, The Butterfly Effect (2021-2023), exploring the compositional process from preliminary sketches to the finalized score. It also discusses the inspiration for composing an original work, the use of different music theory techniques relevant to an analysis of the work, and comparisons to relevant compositions throughout the history of Western music. The Butterfly Effect experiments with compositional techniques that often depart from established rules of harmony and counterpoint, a …

The History And Development Of Solo Tuba Repertoire, Vasilios Tidwell

Honors Theses

The tuba's solo repertoire increased in quantity and quality as a result of developments in the instrument’s design and usage. Following the invention of the tuba in 1835, instrument makers experimented with design concepts to maximize the versatility and potential of the bass brass voice. Composers explored the various uses of the instrument, eventually making the tuba part of the standard orchestral instrumentation by the mid-nineteenth century. Following the instrument's acceptance into bands and orchestras, the first solo works for tuba emerged in the late nineteenth century.

Evolving from novelty pieces accompanied by wind or brass bands, tuba solo music …

The Second Frontier, A Senior Recital, Jasanna Tayler

Honors Theses

The senior recital, The Second Frontier, and honors thesis defense of Jasanna Tayler, Soprano, occurred on Friday, April 14th, 2023. The recital was completed in collaboration with pianist, Cindy Hunter. Selections sung for this recital which incorporated 5 different languages and spanning 4 compositional periods with contrasting pieces including operatic literature and art song. This successfully fulfilled the requirements set forth in the Western Michigan University, voice area handbook. The overarching goal for the recital was to demonstrate the culmination of knowledge gained through attending the Irving School of Music. The musical selections furthered this as they were challenging while …

In The Moment, Laura Korn

Honors Theses

The title “In the Moment” came to be because I wanted to name my recital after something that has felt important to me over the past four years. When I was trying to think of a common thread through all of the most significant experiences I’ve had in what seemed like a college experience full of challenges, growth, and surprises around every corner, I took note that for every one of those experiences, I had been living completely “in the moment.” I had no fear of what was to come, no regret for anything that had come before... I was …

Senior Recital: Medicine, Grace Betzold

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

Finding My Place In The Piazza: An Exploration Of Learning And Performing A Lead Role During A Pandemic, Emma Johnson

Honors Theses

The following thesis is a reflection of one student’s process as she learns a lead role in a musical amidst a global pandemic. The author begins with why she chose to be a performer and what has led her to this moment. She examines how significantly the pandemic has affected the performing arts job sector. The author explores her first exposure to the musical “The Light in the Piazza” and the role of Clara in a scenes program at the university which took place in the spring semester of 2021. The thesis then follows her journey through the abnormal virtual …

Candace Mcmurray Senior Jazz Voice Recital, Candace Mcmurray

Honors Theses

This senior jazz voice recital is aimed to convey the artistry that has blossomed from studying jazz music as a vocalist. The repertoire included in this recital spans music written as early as 1923 and as late as 2017 encompassing a wide variety of jazz styles to reflect all the different jazz eras as well as how other genres in those times have influenced those compositions. The recital includes ten songs with a variety of instrumentation that are aligned with the jazz idiom. Some songs include a typical jazz combo of voice, piano, guitar, bass, and drums while others also …

Stories In Song, Lauren Kowal

Honors Theses

Accompanying her senior recital performance, Stories in Song, Kowal writes a form of extended program notes and analysis in which she relates each piece of music to their original storytelling form. She compares the intention of the composer in their retelling of these famous stories, or how the stories were adapted to music, and to how best portray the stories in their performance.

The Muted Woman: A Lovey-Dovey Themed Recital, From A Man's Point Of View, Raven Williams

Honors Theses

This senior thesis consists of a vocal recital, accompanying program notes, and research regarding the struggles of women composers as music evolved through its Ancient, Baroque, Classic, Romantic and Contemporary periods. The recital includes a compilation of love songs by French, Italian, English, and German composers, in particular Gabriel Fauré, the often-forgotten Stefano Donaudy, Samuel Barber, Roger Quilter, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Joseph Haydn. This paper incorporates biographical information, analysis, performance history and cultural insights into the overshadowed women composers that prospered around the same time period as the men of the former. Specifically, Nadia Boulanger, Nannerl Mozart, Alice Mary …

Musical Theatre Showcase: A Performance Journey And Reflection, Alyssa Zamora

Honors Theses

For her senior musical theatre showcase, Alyssa Zamora attended and in person showcase with agents and theatre professionals in Detroit. Later, she recorded videos of her performing “Thrills” by Donna Missal and “I Want Them...” by Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler. In addition to videos of her performance, she reflects on her growth in her time as a student at Western Michigan University and looks at how she has grown as an artist and how her showcase experience set her up for success in the professional theatre industry.

On The Nature Of Collaboration, John Walker

Honors Theses

The senior recital is in and of itself a Capstone project in the Department of Music—a culmination of one’s undergraduate years. Preparation of such a program, especially a collaborative recital with a peer, demands much of a voice student’s attention. However, the nature of this preparation is a relative unknown among the non-musical spaces of academia. Presented with an opportunity to develop my senior recital with Brittany Parry, a student of the new Master of Music in Collaborative Piano, I chose to reflect upon our novelty recital experience in this Capstone paper. The energy we devoted to our rehearsals and …

Senior Recital, Kenneth Kressin

Honors Theses

Kenny Kressin started to study the cello in 2001 at the age of four with Patty Hicks in Orange, California. Kenny spent about 11 years studying the Suzuki method under Ms. Hicks until he switched cello teachers when he started to attend Orange County High School of the Arts. Starting in 2012, Kenny studied under Laszlo Mezo in Irvine, California. Throughout the years, Kenny has grown as a soloist, orchestral musician, and chamber musician. As an orchestral musician, he has been a part of the Orange County School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings Orchestra. …

Preparing And Performing A Trumpet Recital, Jesse Gibens

Honors Theses

The pieces are examined based on historical context and explained based on the practice notes that I journaled and reflected upon by comparing and contrasting standard recordings of each work. This thesis is divided into nine sections that explore the pieces that are performed, as well as the instruments used to perform them. The thesis also explores my repertoire choices based on instrumentation, style, composer, and genre, as well as how to deal with the challenges of approaching a diverse program. Historical information has been taken from articles, books, and other scholarly writings produced by experts within their fields of …

Bridging The Gap: An Academic Recital For Solo Voice Featuring The Music Of Underrepresented Female Composers Throughout History, Keiley Vieau

Honors Theses

Keiley Vieau, mezzo-soprano, presented her honors thesis senior academic voice recital on Friday, April 19th, 2019 at 3pm. The performance took place at the Lee Honors College in the lounge. This recital was put on in collaboration with pianist Molly Sanford. Music performed included works by all female composers, such as Barbara Strozzi, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Nadia Boulanger, Augusta Holmès, Liza Lehmann, and Amy Beach. This abstract will provide a brief overview of the theme of this recital as well as address the basic musical characteristics of certain pieces from the repertoire programmed.

The recital was based solely …

The Role Of The Piano In The 12 Poems Of Emily Dickinson By Aaron Copland, Krista Benesch

Honors Theses

In the song cycle 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson by Aaron Copland, one may observe the interplay between the piano and the narrator. Throughout all twelve songs, the piano plays different roles. In several songs, the piano plays a certain character: in “Nature, the gentlest mother,” the piano is personified as Nature, while in “Dear March, come in!” the piano is March. In other songs, the piano reacts to the narrator—for example, in “Going to Heaven!”, the narrator announces a statement, and the piano follows with fast, tumbling eighth notes that portray the narrator’s scattered thoughts. Every song in the …

Katie Short's Senior Voice Recital, Katherine Short

Honors Theses

For my honors thesis, I used my Senior Voice Recital. When starting the process, I met with my thesis chair, Dr. Karen Kness to discuss which repertoire I wanted to perform for the recital. We focused on picking song selections ranging from the Baroque musical era to the mid- 1900s. As part of my requirement, I needed to select at least thirty-five minutes of music to present and this music needed to be in at least five different languages. Half of my repertoire was selected from my previous semester of Applied Voice lessons and the other half I learned over …

Senior Viola Recital, Kennedy Dixon

Honors Theses

Coming to the end of my Viola Performance Degree at WMU was a milestone that I have been looking forward to since stepping foot on campus, yet a moment that felt so far away. Preparing for my Senior Viola Recital/Honors Thesis was one of the most exciting, difficult, and overall most rewarding experiences that I will never forget. I’ve had the honor of knowing my currently Viola Professor/Thesis chair since my Freshmen Year of Highschool, where I attend a summer music camp here at WMU, and I can say that I have learned so much about music, responsibility, courage, and …

Senior Recital, Brody Roland

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

A Performance Of Classical Trombone, Benjamin Hahn

Honors Theses

No abstract available

Senior Recital, Flute And Alto Flute, Brenna Wiinanen

Honors Theses

Senior Recital

Brenna Wiinanen, flute and alto flute

Eva Chang, piano

Friday, May 24, 2019, 4 p.m.

Edwards Recital Hall

Sonata in B-minor J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Andante

Largo e do1ce

Presto

Allegro

Nocturne and Allegro Scherzando Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941)

from Eight Pieces for Solo Flute Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961)

1. Ophelia

4. Etude

8. March

Fantaisie brillante sur "Carmen" Bizet/F. Borne (1840-1920)

Au-Dela du Temps pour deux flute Yuko Uebayashi (b. 1975)

I. La lumière lointaine de nuit

II. La lumière dansante

Brenna Wiinanen, flute

Amy Tully, flute

A Musical Exploration Of 'Yes And...': History And Applications Of Free Musical Improvisation For College Students, Amy Lytle

Honors Theses

As music majors at universities, students often spend hours a day focused on improving their musical skills. They work on advancing on their instruments, further understanding advanced music theory, memorizing entire works for music history exams, improving their artistic interpretation, increasing their precision, and more. They spend so much time focusing on how much they need to improve while not appreciating where they currently are in their skills or the application of those skills.

It does not have to be this way.

I was inspired to further study free improvisation because I learned firsthand how truly freeing it can be …

Senior Recital, Jaron Kirshenbaum

Honors Theses

This recital, although it featured works learned over the last six months, is really a culmination of all the work I have put in over the last three and a half years here at the Western Michigan University School of Music. It is a program that brought together friends and colleagues, and featured solo works that show just how far I have come since I arrived here as a freshman clarinet player in the Fall of 2015. Although the diverse music selection and the decision to do mainly single movements from larger works is not what you would typically see …

Implications Of Theory Of Mind, Feelings Of Connectedness, Flow State Of Mind Through Active And Passive Music Improvisation Experiences, Jessica Kociba

Honors Theses

This study is an introduction examining the relationship between a performer and the audience in a musical improvisation context. Current research exploring performer-audience interaction in improvisation experiences is scant and typically framed in a purely narrative context. This study seeks to evaluate four different components of the performer and audience relationship; amount, or level, of experience with improvisation and comfort levels, flow, theory of mind, and emotional connection. A survey was generated and given to students in an improvisation class to collect results based on these four components. This study found that improvisation experience levels were low but comfort with …

A Four Year Moment, Hannah Truckenbrod

Honors Theses

A senior recital can prove to be a daunting task, due to the overwhelming and irrational feeling that it must perfectly represent oneself as their fullest and truest artistic selves. I wanted to explore how I could balance this need for personal representation while simultaneously keeping a level head about professionally producing a recital and preserving my physical and mental health and wellness in the process. The first thing I set out to do when beginning this capstone project was figuring out what was important to me about music, and the study of music. It was imperative that I represent …

The Effectiveness Of Music Therapy To Reduce Agitation Among Persons With Alzheimer’S Disease, Caroline Mazon

Honors Theses

According to the Alzheimer’s Association (2016), Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is diagnosed every 66 seconds resulting in this disease being the 6^th leading cause of death in the United States. Among other signs and symptoms, agitation is one of the most challenging symptoms that patients and caregivers must try to control using nonpharmacological therapies or prescribed pharmacological treatments. Among many professions, music therapy has been used to specifically lower the levels of agitation in AD patients. Live music, “sing a long’s”, using instruments, and listening to a song of the patients’ choice have all been shown to reduce agitation behaviors …

The Art Of French Melodie: A Manual For Recital Preparation, Kristen Abraham

Honors Theses

This is a documentation of my journey through the research, development and execution of a voice recital, with a focus on the creation of guidelines for how one may achieve success in a future recital. Moving through three phases: Thinking, Doing, and Reflecting, I highlight the important processes required to transition seamlessly through the phases. During the entirety of this project, I kept a journal of each step, documenting everything to maintain the integrity of the process, and organizing the information into sections to make the findings easier to understand, learn, and replicate. My end goal is to produce a …

Bridget Cappel: Senior Recital, Opera And Art Song, Bridget Cappel

Honors Theses

The purpose of this performance and honors thesis presentation is to showcase my personal growth as an artist and singer throughout my undergraduate career at Western Michigan University as well as present to an audience of varying levels of musical knowledge, a cumulative collection of works from the mezzo-soprano opera repertoire and art song from the Baroque to Modern era. Works from the following composers were prepared and performed in this concert: Antonio Vivaldi, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn, Gioachino Rossini, Leslie Adams, Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, and the comedy duo Flanders and Swann. The pieces were chosen for …

Senior Voice Recital, Amos Warren

Honors Theses

No abstract available.