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 …

The Fig Tree, Christopher Guevara

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

THE FIG TREE is a sonic representation of Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel The Bell Jar. Within the story, the character of Ether Greenwood describes a vision of a fig tree, a representation of all that was and can be. Within THE FIG TREE are the representations of Plath’s text. The piece is broken into three distinct parts, held together by the soloist bass clarinet line. The first section is a slow buildup, an arrival to the fig tree. The ostinato in the low brass and reeds represents a steep incline to the tree itself. The middle section is within the …

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 …

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 …

Australian/Japanese Electropunk S.F.D.U. 11 Singles & Album, Guy A. Cooper, Jake A. Morton

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This creative work is a self-produced Electropunk album by Guy Cooper and bandmate Jake Morton, created for the band Super Fun Down Under (S.F.D.U.). Written, performed (vocals, guitar, drums, bass, synth), produced, mixed, and mastered independently, the 11-track release is an exploration of genre fusion—melding the raw, political aggression of punk with the synthetic textures and structures of electronic music. The project examines how these two sonic worlds can be merged to create a high-energy, confrontational, and culturally resonant sound that retains the DIY ethos of punk while embracing modern production tools.

A core focus of the album is the …

Harmony In Collaboration: Curating Sustainability In Post-Pandemic Arts, Natalie M. Stepaniak

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In an interconnected world, collaboration in the arts is rising, challenging the traditional notion of the solitary artist. Interdisciplinary collaboration is crucial for advancing performing and visual arts, especially amidst declining audience attendance. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating challenges for the arts sector, recent data suggests a gradual recovery, with collaborative efforts fostering resilience.

This dissertation investigates the transformative potential of interdisciplinary collaboration from the perspective of musicians and their organizations. Through three case studies—collaborations between the Rapides Symphony Orchestra and Play On Theater Company, The Next Festival for Emerging Artists, and violist-composer Leilehua Lanzilotti and her collaborative relationship with …

Mental Practice: Practical Application In Violin And Viola Private Lessons, Natasha Sieczkowska

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation aimed to better understand how violin and viola private instructors teach Mental Practice in their studios, investigating different approaches on how to apply and teach auditory, motor, and visual imagery, score study, and auditory modeling, as well as its benefits. This research was divided into two different stages. In the first stage, the researcher conducted interviews (n = 19) and collected questionnaire responses (n = 14) from 33 upper-string instructors teaching at the pre-college and collegiate levels in the US. This research stage was based on the grounded theory approach since there was not much research …

Hymns Of Babel: A Song Cycle Fmus Composition Project, Reed Spencer, Steven Day

Lux et Fides: A Journal for Undergraduate Christian Scholars

Hymns of Babel Research Brief

Over the course of the eight-week faculty mentorship undergraduate scholarship period, Dr. Reed Spencer and senior Steven Day composed a twelve-song cycle on the theme of Generation Z’s interaction with social media. This piece sought to articulate the thoughts, emotions, responses, and impulses that accompany the virtual world. Many of the songs explored where we find God in our social media age, as well as how we create gods, try to act as a god, and pretend there is no God. The collaborative process began by creating a rough lyrical structure and purpose, followed by …

Justin Holland's Guitar Music Collection, Robert Coldwell

Soundboard Scholar

Although much information is available about Holland's biography and compositions, little research has been done on how he acquired his deep knowledge of the guitar and how he may have interacted with other guitarists of his day.

Some years after Justin Holland's death in 1887, his son, Justin Minor Holland, claimed to have "one of the most elaborate libraries of guitar music, mostly of old masters." This collection could give more insight into the activities of guitar music collectors and guitarists in the United States of the 19th century. After much research, seven bound volumes of guitar music have been …

The Blessed Assembly: Irreplaceable Physical Co-Presence In Worship And Healthy Hybridity Reimagined After The Pandemic In The Digital Age, Yvette, Ying Wai Lau

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Because of the unprecedented and unexpected force of the pandemic since 2020, most churches around the world have experienced some online worship during the lockdown of their cities or the mandated closure of the church buildings. For many people, online worship seems to be an equivalent, if not better, alternative for gathering together—a physical co-presence in worship—even after the pandemic has ended. As necessary and vital as online worship experiences have been for Christians during the pandemic, the witness of the church from Pentecost throughout Christian history indicates that gathered worship in physical spaces is irreplaceable for faith formation and …

Music By Agnes Tyrrell, Agnes Tyrrell, Riley R. Dunbar, Jocelyn Swigger

Student Publications

Typesetting for open-source publication of music by Czech composer Agnes Tyrrell (1846-1883) from her original manuscripts.

Pieces (in alphabetical order by title):

• “Abendfeier” (lyrics by Felix Dahn)
• “An den Mond” – lyrics by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• “Ländler” (possibly part of a set of short dances)
• “Marsch” (possibly part of a set of short dances)
• “Mazurka” (possibly part of a set of short dances)
• “Meg”
• “Nur du” – lyrics by Emil Ritterhaus
• “Rondo”
• “Song” (When Time, Who Steals) – lyrics by Thomas Moore
• “Völglein im Walde” – lyrics by Dilia Helena
• “Walzer” (possibly part of a set of short dances) …

Singer’S Guide To Hak Jun Yoon’S Selected Art Songs, Sunmin Cha

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

Composer Hak Jun Yoon is at the forefront of popularizing Korean art songs through the combination of artistry and mass appeal, positioning him as one of the representative composers of contemporary Korea. Recently, Yoon’s songs gained significant popularity after being featured on the Korean vocal competition TV program “Phantom Singer,” playing a major role in sparking public interest in Korean art songs in general. This document aims to widen that circle to more classical singers by analyzing poetic and musical elements in four of Yoon’s representative songs: “On the Way to You,” “A Flower Blooms Alone,” “Lingering Scent,” and “The …

Come As You Are: The Rise And Fall Of The Grunge Movement And Its Implications On The Identity Of Seattle, Colin J. Wood

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

This paper evaluates the rise of the Grunge movement through Nirvana’s Nevermind album as a unique burst of culture through the city of Seattle. Culturally, in the late 20th century, Seattle found its identity in the area around it, though other American cities overshadowed its significance. Through music, figures such as Jack Endino and the iconic Kurt Cobain gave Seattle an unfathomable uplift within global culture. This paper argues that grunge culture emerged as a distinct facet of Seattleite identity, with elements like flannel clothing and thrifting playing pivotal roles in shaping the city's recognizable and esteemed cultural landscape. It …

Reimagining Haydn’S Seven Last Words For String Quartet: Recasting, Retelling, And Reorchestrating For A Modern Audience, Jeremy J. Kienbaum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross stands as an anomaly not just in Haydn’s oeuvre but in the catalogues of all formidable composers over the past three hundred years. It is unique in its construction: seven slow sonata form movements sandwiched by an introduction and a surprising earthquake finale; and even more outstanding that Haydn published three distinct versions of the work over a ten-year period. Further, the transformation of the Seven Last Words from a sacred to secularly performed work in Haydn’s time warrants further discourse, especially considering its present-day performance practice and reception.

This …

Reconciling Macro- And Micro-Levels In The First Movement Of Brahms’S Piano Concerto In D Minor, Op. 15: A Schenkerian Reading, Alexandra Joan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the first movement of Johannes Brahms’s Piano Concerto no. 1, op. 15, through a Schenkerian lens. Concertos are relatively unexplored in Heinrich Schenker’s theoretical work. Surprisingly, although Schenker put Brahms on a pedestal throughout his life, he left only a few published analyses of the composer’s music.

Chapter 1 explores the kinship between Schenker and Brahms. Both conceived of the musical work as an organic entity. They also shared an approach to the tonal language based on an eighteenth-century tradition of figured bass and counterpoint. Op. 15 also exhibits an approach to musical form grounded in the …

Articulatory Activity Of The Tongue, Jaw, And Lips During The Second Passaggio Transition Of The Soprano Voice, Richard C. Lissemore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation describes three experiments designed to explore the acoustic and articulatory activity of a perceptible change in the soprano voice known as the secondo passaggio, or second transition, which typically occurs for the [ɑ] vowel between D♮5 (587 Hz) and F♮5 (698 Hz). Acoustically, the transition involves a shift in resonance strategy from second resonance tracking of the second harmonic (f_R2/2f_o) to first resonance tracking of the fundamental frequency (f_R1/f_o). To quantify the acoustics of the transition, we employed the measure L₁-L₂, the …

The Reciprocal Interaction Of Musical Performance And Analysis, Gregory Hartmann

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Musicians can generally be divided into one of two kinds: practitioners who compose or perform music, and thinkers who analyze or write about music (theorists, musicologists, and critics). These roles might seem to be of approximately equal importance, so the perspectives of each should be given proportionate consideration. Yet the existing music-theoretical literature consistently relegates the performer to an inferior position. When performance is discussed, it is usually done in objective terms; an analysis is presented as a rationale to judge a performance as right or wrong. My dissertation challenges this perspective and provides an alternative. By marrying rigorous, theory-based …

Comparing Editorial And Artificially Generated Fingerings: A Case Study, Lixi Qin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fingering is crucial for piano performance. Unlike other instruments with relatively fixed fingerings, keyboard instruments offer countless fingering combinations. As musical styles have evolved, so too have the instruments themselves, resulting in a rich history of diverse fingering systems, which sometimes conflict with one another. Moreover, due to individual differences in hand shape and size, the fingering advice from editors or teachers may not be universally applicable, and there is a lack of an objective, unified standard for validating these recommendations.

For students who do not fully understand fingering principles and have not been exposed to a wide range of …

An Analysis Of William Bolcom's "Three Classical Rags", Thomas A. Owens

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This document aims to provide insight into William Bolcom’s Three Classical Rags through harmonic and formal analysis of each rag, investigating the ways in which they fulfill or subvert the expectations of ragtime. The study begins with a description of the harmonic language, form, and metric structure typical of ragtime composers like Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb. Examples of rags that maintain these characteristics are The Entertainer by Joplin, Heliotrope Bouquet by Louis Chauvin and Joplin, and Top Liner Rag by Lamb. Analysis of Bolcom’s Three Classical Rags ensues, exploring the ways they both honor and subvert the expectations …

Uni Suzuki School Annual Spring Concert, May 19, 2024 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recitals given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

Vibrato Rate And Extent In The Baritone Voice Through The Twentieth And Early Twenty-First Century, Scott Purcell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Observations of vibrato rate and extent through the twentieth and early twenty-first century point to an overall decrease in rate and increase in extent. This descriptive analysis studied fifty-five randomly selected recordings of professional operatic baritones, five from each decade from 1910 to 2021, and analyzed their vibrato rate and extent with VoceVista Video Pro. Results showed a consistent decrease in mean vibrato rate from 1910 to 1960, with small increases and decreases from 1960-2021. Vibrato extent was less consistent, but still increased from 1910-2021. The mean vibrato rate was 5.84 Herz (Hz), with a coefficient of variation (CV) of …

An Analysis Of The Musical Gestures In Osvaldo Golijov’S The Dreams And Prayers Of Isaac The Blind And Their Relationship To The Kabbalah Sefirot, Jeremy Gdaniec

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Osvlado Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, scored for klezmer clarinet and string quartet, remains one of his most influential works since its premier in 1994. Inspiration for the work came from the writings of Rabbi Isaac the Blind, a prominent 13^th century figurehead in the branch of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah. In Kabbalah, symbols known as the sefirot are emanations of creation and the key to unlocking the divine secrets of the God-head. The analysis presented in this document combines musical gesture theory with Kabbalistic concepts for new perspectives on Golijov’s …

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 …

Arranging, Teaching And Performing The Cypriot Folk Song, Αχερόμπασμαν (Aherombasman), Georgia Orfanides

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This paper documents my process of arranging, teaching, and conducting the Cypriot folk song, Αχερόμπασμαν (Aherombasman) to JMU’s Treble Chamber Choir. I am Cypriot-American and I wanted to create an accessible arrangement of a Cypriot folk tune in order to introduce the musical culture and language of Cyprus to a Western audience. The first section of this paper provides a brief history of the cultural and political influences on Cyprus, and an introduction to common practices in the Cypriot folk tradition. The second section details the process of transcribing the original tune from Alkinoos Ioannides’ arrangement, creating the final arrangement …

Teaching Double Bass Through Lost Traditions Of The 18th Century, Tina Battaglia

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Through learning how to improvise entire compositions from unfigured bass using stock classical schemata, this paper seeks to bring awareness to the technical and musical benefits of translating 18th century compositional keyboard etudes called partimenti into double bass etudes.

A Survey Of Collegiate Voice Students With Asthma And Allergies And Their Perceived Impact On Singer Health And Performance Experiences – A Pilot Study, Nicole D. Jenkins

Dissertations, 2020-current

An increasing body of research evidence indicates that college students of all majors with asthma and/or allergies represent a vulnerable population due to their inability to experience a consistent and dependable quality of life compared with their healthy collegiate peers. Further, in terms of their impact specifically on collegiate singers, the intricate network of co-morbid conditions associated with asthma and allergies, including pain, wheezing, and discomfort combined with physical symptoms of stress, disturbed sleep, fatigue, diminished concentration, depression, and high-risk behaviors, cannot be underestimated. As such, this study aims to identify and analyze the health impediments caused by asthma and/or …

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Impressionism In The Hands Of Griffes, Bauer, And Howe, And The Musical Climate In Early 20th-Century America, Elaine Sara Lim

Dissertations, 2020-current

American composers Charles Griffes (1884-1920), Marion Bauer (1882-1955), and Mary Howe (1882-1964) are considered “Impressionist” composers by some scholars. This document will explore selected piano works of each composer to determine the extent to which impressionistic traits are present. Topics such as tonality, harmony, texture, and individual style will be examined, as well as the significant relationship between music and poetry. American Impressionism was short-lived but served as a link to Modernism, as all three composers eventually experimented with other styles. Early 20th-century American audiences, accustomed to the influx of European artists and music, were slow to embrace the new …

Pedagogical Tools And Techniques For The Development Of Harmonic Audiation, Ensemble Intonation, And Textual Imagery Through The Choral Music Of Ola Gjeilo, Nikolaos Myrogiannis-Koukos

Dissertations, 2020-current

Aspiring and dedicated choral directors strive to program music that is not only valuable to the growth of their ensembles’ skills in music literacy and choral performance but also institutes opportunities for memorable and meaningful performing experiences. Research in choral pedagogy conducted within the past two decades suggests that choral music is considered pedagogically appropriate, regardless of the musical aptitude of the performers involved, when it showcases elements that are often summarized in three separate yet equally essential qualities: the simultaneous development of multiple technical aspects of singing and a sense of intonation, including the development of sight-singing skills, the …

The ‘Well-Rounded’ Artist: An Intersectionality Of Stage Presence, Artistry, And Entrepreneurship, Megan E. Zuhowski

Dissertations, 2020-current

Undergraduate voice students spend hours over their degree in coursework relevant to bettering their overall musicianship. Coursework in music history and music theory, coupled with applied lessons, allows students to develop the knowledge necessary for their future professions. While universities strive to equip students with advanced music proficiencies, as the landscapes of professional opportunities shift and morph into work in multiple genres of expertise, students may not receive the full scope of skills needed to be independent entrepreneurial designers.

The purpose of this DMA document is to explore the intersectionality of stage presence, artistry, and entrepreneurship through a course offering …