Music Performance Commons^™

Diy Connections And Collaborations: Mid-West To North-East, Ciarán Ryan

Irish Communication Review

Alternative music cultures can be found in various Irish cities and towns outside of the capital Dublin. These scenes may retain their own local idiosyncrasies, but those subscribing to do-it-yourself (DIY) ideals in Ireland are clearly influenced by sounds and styles from further afield. As punk mutated into different forms from the 1980s onwards, political and musical cues came from the countries to the East and West of Ireland - hardcore (Fairchild, 1995) from the United States, and anarcho-punk (Dines, 2004) from Britain. The DIY aesthetics of the early punk movements have since translated to numerous music genres and practices …

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 …

Fabio Siniscarchio Graduate Voice Recital, Andrews University

Student Degree Recitals 2021-2022

Fabio Siniscarchio, tenor, in his graduate voice recital.

Assisted by Karen West, piano, they will present works by Villa-Lobos, Puccini, Verdi and Bolcolm.

A Performance Guide To “Four Piano Pieces, Opus 1” By Evgeny Kissin, Andrew Choi

Theses and Dissertations

This document provides a performance guide to Evgeny Kissin’s Four Piano Pieces, Opus 1. Although more musicians are becoming familiar with his compositions, there are no comprehensive scholarly resources available about this work. This document aims to provide that needed resource.

Evgeny Igorevich Kissin (b.1971) is a Russian-born internationally acclaimed pianist. He achieved stardom with a performance featuring the two piano concerti by Frederic Chopin in 1984. The event was recorded live and released as an album by RCA Victor. Since then, he has been in constant demand all over the world. Although he mainly performs, he occasionally composes as …

An Analysis Of The Compositional Technique And Structures Of Nikolai Kapustin’S Piano Sonata No. 6, Opus 62, Hyun Jung Im

Theses and Dissertations

The subject of this study is the Russian composer and pianist Nikolai Kapustin and an analysis of his Piano Sonata No. 6, Opus 62. Kapustin’s musical output includes 161 opus numbers, and the works are mainly in a hybrid style combining jazz and traditional Western music. The composition style of Kapustin is to take a jazz approach to harmony and rhythm within traditional forms. The uniqueness and creativity of Kapustin’s music led to its growing popularity, and this has been evident in several ways, including increased performances, recordings, and publications. Based on this fusion of jazz and traditional Western music, …

A Performance Guide To Hyo-Geun Kim’S Art Pop For Korean Art Songs, Taeyoung Seon

Theses and Dissertations

This document contains information about instructions regarding singing with Korean diction for Korean Art songs by a gifted Korean composer, Kyo-geun Kim. He is now a Professor of Business at Ewha Women’s University in the Republic of Korea. The writer offers a brief biography of Kim as a composer and a scholar of music and business. This document will help anyone who would like to learn Korean diction for singing Korean Art Song, particularly, Hyo-geun’s Art Pop Art Songs such as Snow, A Thousand Winds, and What Though Life Conspires to Cheat You. The works are termed ART POP, it …

Applications Of Tao Of Bass, Vol. I, In Orchestral And Solo Double Bass Repertoire, Santiago Zorrilla De San Martin

Dissertations

This dissertation is not only an exploration of left-hand techniques found in Tao of Bass, Vol. 1, but also an inside of the performance and didactic approach of Dr. Marcos Machado to organize and create its content. That said, one of the objectives of this dissertation is to focus on developing an awareness of the didactic strategies in Tao of Bass created to develop the utmost proficiency in double bass performance. I expect to prove this objective in my dissertation by acknowledging how Tao of Bass encompasses a didactic approach that is universal and academically relevant to prepare for …

Finding The Balance: Music Performance Anxiety, Flow, And The Undergraduate Recital, Ash Phillips

University Honors Theses

In a combination of research-oriented and creative endeavors, I analyzed and reflected on my own struggles with music performance anxiety (MPA) in hopes to manage my levels of MPA for my undergraduate recital. Through this deep dive, I discovered numerous strategies for minimizing MPA, including (but not limited to): physical activity, meditation, and the concept of flow. Of all the techniques I implemented into my practice, the concept of flow proved to be the most beneficial by far. Flow experiences occur when an individual is so enveloped in their craft (music, art, athletics, etc) that they lose touch with their …

"You Can't Be Shakespeare And You Can't Be Joyce": Lou Reed, Modernism, And Mass Production, Daniel C. Jacobson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation proposes a reevaluation of the overlooked connections between American popular music and modernist literature’s scope and formal experimentation which arose in the mid-20th century. Because Lou Reed’s ever-changing persona situates his work uncomfortably between high art and pop-culture, modernism and “post-modernity,” literature and music, and ethics and aesthetics, I intend to consider Reed as this dissertation’s empty, refracted center. One that will allow for a critique of several major intellectual movements, both inside and outside the academy, that continue to influence thinking about art, ethics, and material culture. Additionally, I hope to show that the work of a …

Homage To Eleanora: A Musical Journey Through The Billie Holiday Songbook, Keith A. Dames

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Billie Holiday was a singer, songwriter, vocalist, bandleader and composer in the fields of music, black culture and more specifically the genre of jazz. The primary focus of this study is Billie Holiday’s discography, music, and compositions as treated in relation to the black culture of production. This study will explore a secondary content analysis of Billie Holiday’s music, musicianship, musicality and compositional skills within the American jazz mainstream, broader jazz audience and world at large. This project will take an analytical look at the structure and form of the compositions of Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday is credited with composing …

The Feminine Harp As Feminist Tool: Early Professional Footing For Women In Mid-Twentieth-Century America, Chelsea Lane

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In 1930s North America, women—for the first time—were accorded permanent principal positions in significant American orchestras. Edna Phillips, Alice Chalifoux, and Sylvia Meyer, all students of the legendary harp pedagogue Carlos Salzedo, have been celebrated as pioneers for the prestigious employment they obtained in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra, respectively, between 1930 and 1933. Despite the impressiveness of these accomplishments, however, the narrative of their “firstness” is not wholly accurate. In actuality, female harpists have occupied orchestral posts as acting principals, substitutes, and second harpists since the very inception of orchestras. The cause for their early …

Take Flight Music Festival Branding, Maxwell Bo Chen, Jake Oxenham

Graphic Communication

We created a branding and design campaign for the Take Flight music festival on campus. The project covered many aspects of event creation and marketing such as name, logo, content creation, social media, printed media, vendor outreach, and administration outreach. All these pieces had to work together to create a strong and cohesive brand image for this event which would help ensure a successful turnout and event overall.

Project Metamorphosis: Designing A Dynamic Framework For Converting Musical Compositions Into Paintings, Rao Hamza Ali, Grace Fong, Erik Linstead

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The authors present an automated, rule-based system for converting piano compositions into paintings. Using a color-note association scale presented by Edward Maryon in 1919, which correlates 12-tone scale with 12 hues of the color circle, the authors present a simple approach for extracting colors associated with each note played in a piano composition. The authors also describe the color extraction and art generation process in detail, as well as the process for creating “moving art,” which imitates the progression of a musical piece in real time. They share and discuss artworks generated for four well-known piano compositions.

Unifying Text And Music: Applying Shurtleff's Twelve Guideposts To Operatic Arias For Soprano, Jamey J. Wright

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the present culture of operatic performance, artistry is measured not only by singers’ musical interpretation and vocal technique, but also by their ability to communicate compelling characterization. This monograph explores a helpful technique for dramatic interpretation in opera. The discipline of musical performance provides helpful guides to characterization through elements such phrasing, rhythm, harmony, and instrumentation. Techniques borrowed from the spoken theater, particularly those pioneered by Constantin Stanislavski, include the Magic If, objectives, actions, and tactics. The literature on auditioning for the theater is useful for synthesizing these techniques for singers, because audition techniques emphasize compelling characterization with …

The Significance Of Sonic Branding To Strategically Stimulate Consumer Behavior: Content Analysis Of Four Interviews From Jeanna Isham’S “Sound In Marketing” Podcast, Ina Beilina

Student Theses and Dissertations

Purpose:
Sonic branding is not just about composing jingles like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It.” Sonic branding is an industry that strategically designs a cohesive auditory component of a brand’s corporate identity. This paper examines the psychological impact of music and sound on consumer behavior reviewing studies from the past 40 years and investigates the significance of stimulating auditory perception by infusing sound in consumer experience in the modern 2020s.

Design/methodology/approach:
Qualitative content analysis of audio media was used to test two hypotheses. Four archival oral interview recordings from Jeanna Isham’s podcast “Sound in Marketing” featuring the sonic branding experts …

Community Bands: Creating A More Accessible Community Band Experience Through The Use Of Multi-Level Repertoire, Cooper Neil

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This thesis hypothesizes that the use of multi-level repertoire in community bands will allow ensembles to more directly cater to their community member’s musical expectations while respecting the issue of time commitment for others. In this way, a community ensemble can become more accessible and, ideally, lead to a more diverse and representative group. Creating a volunteer community ensemble that accounts for musician’s available time, skill level, and desire for appropriate level of challenge is what this document seeks to address.

Three Etudes For Marimba And Pandeiro: Contemporary Marimba Music As A New Setting For The Brazilian Pandeiro, Eduardo Marques Do Prado

Doctoral Projects

The history of frame drums and idiophones has thousands of years. The modern versions of the pandeiro and the marimba are relatively new to those families of instruments. While the marimba found its niche in contemporary music, the pandeiro has been mostly used in Brazilian traditional music. The current project brings those two instruments together, allowing the pandeiro to express its versatility. Executing the intricate rhythms, uneven patterns, and alternating time signatures from within the Three Etudes for Marimba and Pandeiro is an example of what can be done with this amazing frame drum. These three pieces provide the pandeiro …

A Poet's Voice: Music In Service To Poetry: Elements Of Text Painting In Juliana Hall's Song Cycle "How Do I Love Thee?", Hayley Z. Coughin

Dissertations, 2020-current

American composer Juliana Hall has established a reputation as one of the leading composers of contemporary American art songs, having composed over 60 song cycles, totaling over 300 works for the voice. Hall’s song cycle How Do I Love Thee? expresses a narrative arc told through five selections from Victorian-era poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. The poems selected include Sonnet 3: “Unlike,” Sonnet 43: “How Do I Love Thee?,” Sonnet 37: “Pardon,” Sonnet 21: “Say Over,” and Sonnet 41: “Thank You.” Hall’s cycle describes the relationship between the lover and the object of their love, including …

Decolonizing And Enriching Opera: A Nigerian Folktale One Act Opera, Miracle O. Amah

Dissertations, 2020-current

Aligned with the decolonial aims of this project, this English and Yoruba language opera promotes an international understanding of African operatic styles which reflect literary, musical, instrumental and dance cultural traditions. This paper addresses some of the issues faced by people of color in the opera world, ways that people of color have been resilient in this genre and ways to enrich the opera world with the aim of decolonizing and deframing the white racial structure. This opera was first performed on March 29th, 2022 and was created as a workshop for performances in high schools, colleges, music institutions, and …

An Investigation Of The Violin Teaching Method Of Lin Yaoji From A Personal Perspective, Mo Zhou

Dissertations, 2020-current

As a Western musical instrument, the Violin has a history spanning more than three hundred years. Contemporary approaches to its performance and pedagogy have been developed and influenced by the Russian, the Franco-Belgian, and the German Violin Schools. It was not until the 1920s and '30s, that the violin entered the public realm of Chinese society.

From the 1980s until today, several generations of violinists have emerged as Violin Educators in China. Among them, Lin Yaoji was the most famous. This study will research and examine Lin Yaoji’s violin teaching method. Specifically, this document will consist of five chapters discussing …

A Poet's Voice: Music In Service To Poetry: Elements Of Text Painting In Juliana Hall's Song Cycle "How Do I Love Thee?", Hayley Z. Coughin

Dissertations, 2020-current

American composer Juliana Hall has established a reputation as one of the leading composers of contemporary American art songs, having composed over 60 song cycles, totaling over 300 works for the voice. Hall’s song cycle How Do I Love Thee? expresses a narrative arc told through five selections from Victorian-era poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. The poems selected include Sonnet 3: “Unlike,” Sonnet 43: “How Do I Love Thee?,” Sonnet 37: “Pardon,” Sonnet 21: “Say Over,” and Sonnet 41: “Thank You.” Hall’s cycle describes the relationship between the lover and the object of their love, including …

Children's Choir, Spring Concert, May 9, 2022 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

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

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 …

Student Pianists In Recital

Printed Performance Programs (PDF Format)

No abstract provided.

Instrumental Chamber Music (Winds & Brass)

Printed Performance Programs (PDF Format)

No abstract provided.

Instrumental Chamber Music (Strings)

Printed Performance Programs (PDF Format)

No abstract provided.

University Treble Choir Concert, Chapman University Treble Choir, Esther Kim

Printed Performance Programs (PDF Format)

No abstract provided.

Culminating Project: Analysis And Challenges Of My Graduate Recital, James Ruffin

Recital Papers

This paper displays analysis of the songs I performed for my required graduate recital. The goal was to break down the challenges of the music, which included sets from Johannes Brahms, Francis Poulenc, Samuel Barber, John Musto, and Franz Joseph Haydn. My hopes are for people to see how I performed this recital from both a technical and emotional standpoint.

Whitman War Poetry Settings By Three Composers, Grady Hayden

Recital Papers

This paper centers around the treatment of Walt Whitman's poetry in Ned Rorem’s War Scenes, Kurt Weill’s Four Walt Whitman Songs, and Ethan McGrath’s Four Whitman Settings. In this paper, these works are explored through formal and textual analysis along with investigating the backgrounds of the works and their composers. Further background information will include wider discussions on form and compositional history. In addition, the technical considerations and challenges of singing the selected songs will be examined.

New Music Ensemble, Chapman New Music Ensemble

Printed Performance Programs (PDF Format)

No abstract provided.