Music Performance Commons^™

Hearing The Difference: Just Intonation Techniques Utilizing Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions In Viola Performance, Calj Green Umezono

Theses and Dissertations

Difference tones, also known as distortion product otoacoustic emissions, are the result of active phenomena in the human cochlea during the conversion of sound waves into bioelectrical signals. Difference tones make it possible to explore alternative musical tuning systems beyond the twelve-tone, equally tempered regime. Musicians have investigated difference tones since the 18th Century in Euro-American musical contexts, but their application has so far been limited in scope. Advances in science, technology, and music theory from the late 19th Century through the early 21st Century have given present-day violists the opportunity to more fully understand the virtues of difference tones …

Fue Evocations: A Culturally-Informed Performance Guide To Approaching Works For The Western Concert Flute Inspired By Traditional Japanese Flutes, Chase Michael Ketron

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to create a culturally-informed and aesthetically accurate performance preparation guide for Western concert flute players seeking to perform works inspired by traditional Japanese flutes, or fue, such as the shakuhachi and nohkan.¹ While many pieces like these exist, there are limited resources detailing how to emulate the traditional Japanese flutes and their performance practices. The composers of these works often do well to provide notation for producing the specific sounds or effects they are trying to replicate, but these are non-standardized and thus vary from composer to composer. In addition, the traditional …

Relationships Between Modern Marching Percussion And Concert Percussion: An Investigation Of Selected Percussion Ensemble Repertoire, Ian Patrick Mahaffey

Theses and Dissertations

Percussion, as an expansive and diverse art form, encompasses a wide range of performance and cultural aesthetics, all unified by the foundational elements of rhythm, technique, and expression. Within this spectrum, the relationships between marching percussion and concert percussion presents a significant area of study. This document explores the relationships of marching percussion and concert percussion through the contextual analysis of specific percussion ensemble repertoire. By defining the distinct characteristics of concert and marching percussion, the study establishes a framework for comparison and analysis. It highlights how techniques, both musically and compositionally, and the roles of specific instrumentation has contributed …

As Iron Sharpens Iron: Intentional Near-Peer Mentorship In The Collegiate Applied Studio, Morgan Smith Owen

Theses and Dissertations

Undergraduate students struggle to adjust to the expectations of university music programs. Mentoring programs are consistently cited as tools to build social capital and academic success, but there are few documented studies of mentoring applied directly to the traditional model of conservatory music instruction. Effective near-peer mentoring can build musicianship skills and develop accountability, establishing stronger practice routines and easing the transition to collegiate music study for younger students. This case study examines three models of mentorship to identify ways to create an intentional mentorship program within the applied studio, regardless of scale or specific form of instruction.

What Is Standard? Defining The Orchestral Percussion Excerpt Canon Through Comparison To Annual Symphonic Programming, Julia Kathleen Ross

Theses and Dissertations

The present study seeks to compare requirements for orchestral auditions with season programming for 15 American orchestras to gauge the perception that the most frequently requested percussion excerpts are from works that are rarely, if ever, performed. Examination of required repertoire lists for 35 auditions held by the surveyed orchestras from 2000-2025 shows the relative frequency of each excerpt among eight instrument categories and demonstrates that certain selections are more firmly entrenched in the audition canon than others. This analysis complements a comprehensive review of each orchestra’s Masterworks programming from September 2014-June 2025, wherein the appearance of the larger work …

Aquí Y Ahora A Dance Tribute To Gustavo Cerati And The Expression Of Hispanic Immigrant Identity In New York City, Karina Terán

Theses and Dissertations

This Thesis explores how dance serves as a language of cultural identity among Hispanic immigrants in New York City. Through a multidisciplinary performance and research, it reflects lived experiences, blending movement and music to celebrate legacy, resilience, and community, while honoring the influence of Argentine rock icon Gustavo Cerati.

Contemporary Voices Of China: Biographical Introduction Of Four Contemporary Chinese Composers And Their Chinese Language Art Songs, Xintian Xu

Theses and Dissertations

This document primarily explores the rich developmental journey of Chinese modern art songs from the early 20th century to the present. It provides an overview of the lives, compositional activities, and contributions to Chinese art songs of four contemporary composers: Zheng Qiufeng, Wang Liping, Lu Zaiyi, and Zhao Jiping. To provide more specific resources, this study includes a table of selected works by the four composers, detailing the composer, song title, poet/lyricist, vocal range, and difficulty level. This section aims to serve as a practical reference for researchers, performing artists, and music educators interested in Chinese art songs.

Trios For Oboe, Bassoon, And Piano By Underrepresented Composers: An Annotated Bibliography And Performance Guide, Alexandra Castro

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to highlight repertoire for the trio of oboe, bassoon, and piano, focusing on works by historically underrepresented composers, specifically women and people of color (including Black, Latinx, Indian, Asian, and Native American composers), as well as my performance suggestions and comments for each piece. By creating an annotated bibliography and providing performance insights for each piece, the author seeks to increase the visibility and accessibility of these compositions. This research reflects a broader effort to diversify classical music, promoting works that mirror our society’s diverse cultural landscape. As a first of its kind, this …

The Impact Of Ballet Techniques On Singing Performers, Julie H. Welch

Theses and Dissertations

Singing performers are tasked to being a multifaceted artist using their acting and even dance skills in a performance. Voice teachers have long incorporated physical activity into training, but traditional ballet techniques—such as core tension and neck elongation—can contradict healthy singing practices. Given ballet’s deep historical connection to opera and stage performance, this study aims to examine whether integrating ballet into vocal training enhances or hinders a singer’s technique and overall performance. This investigation surveyed forty subjects who identified as teachers, singing performers, or students earning a performance degree and interviewing select subjects for further information; results will be discussed.

‘Keeping It Real’ Goes Wrong: Deconstruction Of Masculinity In The Work Of Jay-Z And Kendrick Lamar, Leo Mcmahon

Theses and Dissertations

Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar use their latest albums, 4:44 and Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, to address the wake of damage their behaviors have caused. On a personal level each artist apologizes to their wife for infidelities, but along the way they deconstruct performances of masculinity that have dominated popular hip-hop music since the late 1980's. Highlighting the pressure the music industry puts on hip-hop artists to perform a hyper-sexual, hyper-violent masculinity, I argue that the artists join the genre of African-American autobiography to reveal the inauthentic performances of 'realness' in hip-hop. Posturing as representatives of African-American men, …

Listening, Looking, And Learning: An Exploration Of Musical Influence On The Narratives And Characters Of Call The Midwife, Mary Claire Buchanan

Theses and Dissertations

Call the Midwife has distinguished itself among British period dramas through its commitment to telling women’s stories with emotional depth, historical and medical accuracy, and nuanced character development. Unlike many period dramas based in the United Kingdom that center on the aristocracy, Call the Midwife connects the audience with ordinary people, particularly women, navigating life post-World War II and the early days of government healthcare by portraying their struggles, triumphs, and evolving identities. One of the most compelling ways the series achieves this is through its use of music, particularly recurring motifs that signify personal growth and transformation. This thesis …

Hyo-Shin Na's Chamber Works, 'From Korea To America- 120 Years And Beyond' And 'Song Of The Fog': A Stylistic Analysis And Performance Guide, Jiyeon Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes two chamber music works by Korean composer Hyo-shin Na, Song of the Fog and From Korea to America, focusing on how the fusion of Eastern and Western instruments contributes to musical expression and timbral characteristics. It includes an examination of the role of instrumental arrangement and reveals the composer's narrative and emotional intentions. The aim is to present an insight into Hyo-shin Na’s ensemble style.

Song of the Fog uses the Japanese koto with Western chamber instruments to depict the imagery of the accompanying poetry through changes in timbre, dynamic contrasts, and various performance techniques. Despite …

Inducing And Interpreting Physical Transformation In Electroacoustic Chamber Music Via Experimental Applications Of Modular Synthesizers, Joseph Samuel Lyons

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most rapidly evolving musical genres of the 21st century is interactive electroacoustic chamber music. This is primarily due to the ongoing developments in creative technology that have increased both the idiom's technical accessibility and its potential for artistic expression. In particular, modern modular synthesizers enable electroacoustic musicians to transform the physical characteristics of sound with an extremely fine level of control. This research project has three major goals. The first goal is to explore the relationship between the many disciplines involved in this genre of music through a review of the scholarship of Aleister Crowley, Edgard Varèse, …

Securing Memorization In Piano Performance With Continuous Audiation, Jie He

Theses and Dissertations

The study explores how incorporating continuous audiation, a concept introduced by pianist and educator Sarah Croom-Hatch, can be used as a strategy to improve pianists’ music memorization abilities and relief performance-related stress. The study presents a four-stage memorization process that emphasizes preparation, early, middle, and late stages. By integrating aural, kinesthetic, analytical, and visual memory with continuous audiation during the four-stage memorization process, pianists can develop a cohesive and secure “sound stream” that significantly enhances their memory system. The study provides practical guidance for systematically developing continuous audiation within daily practice routines to enhance memorization skills and achieve successful piano …

Injury Prevention Exercise Guidelines For Flutists, Ziqing Guan

Theses and Dissertations

Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) have long been a common topic among performing musicians. There are studies of PRMDs specific to flutists, but not much detailed guidance of playing-related injury prevention has been provided. As increasing numbers of students have taken up the flute in recent years, PRMDs in flutists have become more of a concern. However, large numbers of flutists are still lacking education on prevention of PRMDs. The purpose of this document is to help flutists better understand the major muscle groups that we use in playing the flute, how these muscles are affected by flute-playing, and to introduce …

Comprehensive Method For Clarinet Latin American Music Heritage Case Study – Venezuela, Carmen Teresa Borregales

Theses and Dissertations

Latin American music and music-making have much to offer in their performance traditions and richness of genres, which demand technical proficiency and musicianship. In particular, some contemporary new music for clarinet carries traditional elements, including rhythmic patterns, accentuation, articulation, harmonic progressions, and instrumentation, among others. This study proposes an innovative approach to technical practice and skill development for clarinet, based on twelve etudes for clarinet, commissioned from twelve outstanding Venezuelan composers who explore Venezuelan traditional music genres. The results represent a comprehensive method for clarinet, appropriate for advanced-level players, and its application to pedagogical and performance practices.

How Do They Do It: A Narrative Of Disabled Public School Instrumental Ensemble Conductors And Their Positive Working Relationships With Their Administrators, Lia Alexandria Patterson Snead

Theses and Dissertations

As the leader of the instrumental ensemble, the conductor’s role is important on and off the stage. Public school conductors have especially demanding jobs because they must act as a conduit between composer and ensemble as well as handle all administrative duties pertaining to running a music program. Subsequently, this results in a heavier workload than the average teacher. The demanding workload can add to any preexisting issues for disabled ensemble conductors who struggle at work due to insufficient support from their administrators. The lack of strong administrative support for disabled or impaired faculty and staff may be due to …

A Conductor’S Guide To Lucrecia Roces Kasilag’S Misang Pilipino (1965), Denise Ysabel Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Composer Lucrecia Roces Kasilag (1918-2008) is a National Artist for the Philippines and a UNESCO International Artist of the World. Though she has many more accolades and triumphs to note, both national and international, Kasilag is not well known outside of her native Philippines. One factor that obscures this composer from the world is that much of her work is unpublished, as are other historical Filipino composers’ works.

Kasilag composed her first Misang Pilipino in 1965 to commemorate the 400^th year of Christianization in the Philippines, but multiple editions of the work were written and used for different occasions. …

A Comparative Analysis Of Samuel Barber’S Third Essay For Orchestra, Op. 47, David Abrams Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

Samuel Barber (1910–1981) was an American composer who lived and worked during the twentieth-century. His list of works includes forty-eight published pieces that span virtually every major genre of western art music. One of Barber’s most unique contributions is the invention of a new orchestral genre: the essay for orchestra. Borrowing the term from literature, Barber is credited with composing the first musical essays. Today, musical essays are understood to be single-movement instrumental works that are non-programmatic in nature.

Barber composed three essays for orchestra during his lifetime. His First Essay, Op. 12, was composed in 1937; his Second …

A Pedagogical And Analytical Study Of The Carnatic Saxophone Performance Tradition Of Kadri Gopalnath, Caleb James Carpenter

Theses and Dissertations

Kadri Gopalnath is a musician who achieved an exceptional level of mastery in the Carnatic musical tradition of South India, and he accomplished this playing the saxophone, a uniquely Western instrument. He was the first person to fully integrate the saxophone to the Carnatic style and was held in high esteem as a classical Indian musician. This document examines the Carnatic tradition, Kadri Gopalnath’s life and work, and the modifications he made to the saxophone. Selected analyses of his performances are reviewed in the context of Carnatic pedagogy, and the significance of learning this tradition for the musicianship of a …

The Film Score Music Of John Williams: A Guide To Selected Works For The Principal Percussionist, Andrew Charles Crozier Patzig

Theses and Dissertations

John Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. As one of the most well-known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, Williams has scored some of the most iconic films of all time. Of note, he has scored more than one hundred films, many of which were directed by Steven Spielberg.

This study explores Williams’ writing for pitched and non-pitched percussion, particularly in his scores for E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Hook, The Cowboys Overture, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

John Williams’ film music is often scored for an extensive inventory of percussion …

Appalachian Dreams: Traditional Folk Songs In Concert Literature For Classical Guitar, Jackson Douglas Roberson

Theses and Dissertations

Transcriptions and arrangements of works for other instruments make up a substantial portion of the concert literature for the classical guitar. Additionally, the classical guitar’s connections with folk music traditions from around the world are undeniable. While much of the folk-inspired repertoire for guitar engages with the musical traditions of Spain and Latin America, this document will examine a work for solo guitar that uses traditional Appalachian folk music as source material: John Duarte’s Appalachian Dreams.

Appalachian folk music is a primarily oral tradition, and documentation of the music did not appear until the late nineteenth century. This project …

A Holistic Approach For Neurodivergent Learners In The High School Choral Classroom, Peter Allen Haley

Theses and Dissertations

There is a wealth of literature in the fields of music education, music therapy, and psychology regarding neurodivergent people, but next to no pedagogical material relating to large-group practices, particularly within the choral rehearsal. Many, if not most high school choir directors will encounter neurodivergent students in their programs at some point and will likely not know which strategies effectively include their neurodivergent learners in their classrooms. This paper includes a survey of existing research and literature related to music education (particularly secondary choral music education) and Universal Design for Learning, and offers rehearsal techniques, classroom management strategies, and repertoire …

Symphony No. V: Elements (Julie Giroux, 2018); An Overview Of Programmatic Elements And Performance Devices, Zackery Augustus Deininger

Theses and Dissertations

Julie Giroux is a multi-faceted composer who has been writing for the wind band since the 1980s. Having composed and arranged over 125 works for wind band, Giroux has dedicated her compositional career to furthering the development of the wind band repertoire while simultaneously working to establish the wind band genre as an area of serious artistic merit. Giroux is in constant demand as a commissioned composer. Her projects are often commissioned by distinguished ensembles, both in the United States and around the world, and many of her pieces receive performances at significant events such as The Midwest Clinic Band …

An Analysis Of Selected Vocal Works By George Walker, Ginger Sharnell Jones-Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

George Theophilus Walker (1922–2018), a prolific composer, pianist, and educator, was born on June 27, 1922, in Washington, D.C. He received degrees in music from Oberlin College, Curtis Institute of Music, and Eastman School of Music. His faculty appointments included Dillard University, Smith College, the University of Colorado, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and Rutgers University.

In 1998, Walker received a Letter of Distinction from the American Music Center for his significant contributions to the field of contemporary American music, and in 1999 he was elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters. Perhaps most significantly, Walker holds …

New Music For A New World: Robert Ashley’S Television Operas, Nicole Kaack

Theses and Dissertations

Robert Ashley defined the majority of his works as “television operas”—spoken narrative music for television broadcast. Analyzing Ashley’s works through their cross-disciplinarity, this thesis addresses the development of Ashley’s chosen medium; assesses his use of visual, linguistic, and musical structures; and interprets their basis in American cultural identity.

From Silence To Forte: Developing An Inclusive Space For Persian Musicians To Flourish, Sholeh Salimi

Theses and Dissertations

Music serves as a reflection of culture and conveys various emotional and intellectual states, such as a nation's perspective, social attitudes, and historical background. However, the Iranian revolution in 1979 led to the ban of music by the new regime, limiting the output and audience for Iranian music. In addition, the emergence of Western music accessibility through technology posed challenges for traditional Persian music, and the government's restrictions on music further compounded the problem. To support and advance the preservation and dissemination of Iranian music, this study aims to explore how an interior designer can create a space that enables …

Analysis Of Selected Pieces Influenced By Taiwanese Aboriginal Music For Solo Violin And String Quartet, Isabel Hsin-Yi Ong

Theses and Dissertations

This is an analysis of three pieces that contribute to solo violin and string quartet repertoire through the lens of intervallic relationships, rhythmic and gestural motifs, and instrumental technique. Briefly delving into the Aboriginal history of Taiwan and illuminating aural concepts inherent within each tribe, the research blends musicological research, theoretical analysis, and intuitive performance-based interpretations to meld and expand the technical and musical possibilities of the violin with the essence and impact of these songs.

Timeless Light: A Singer’S Compendium Of Art Songs For Tenor By Black Composers, Johnnie J. Felder

Theses and Dissertations

This compendium of Black art songs is intended to serve as both a resource and reference for teachers of singing and performers who desire to assign or program reputable, contemporary art song literature by lesser-known, marginalized composers of the African Diaspora. The American academic structure needs a compendium of African American Art Songs, specifically for the tenor fach, that will provide biographical information, composers’ names, publishing details, and exact locations as to where to retrieve these worthy gems that are still too often excluded from the academic and classical canon. Comprised of more than 331 songs, this document is sure …

Adapting North American Fiddle Bow Technique To The Double Bass, Spencer Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Because of the pioneering work of Edgar Meyer in expanding the role of the double bass in American folk music, many bassists are inspired to engage with fiddle music in the way fiddlers do. Thus, bassists who perform in fiddle and string band traditions may seek greater artistic freedom and expression by shifting between a variety of accompanying textures to playing melody and improvised bowed solos.

In seeking to discover how bassists successfully adapt fiddle bowing techniques to the double bass, I have interviewed two bassists who are deeply involved in Americana music traditions, Paul Kowert and Ethan Jodziewicz. From …