Music Performance Commons^™

Music From The Harpsichord House, Julie Zhu

Theses and Dissertations

Music from the Harpsichord House is an installation and series of concerts that exists in the binary of in and out of performance. During a concert, the harpsichordist is hidden inside the house and his face is live-projected outside. Fifteen new musical compositions were commissioned for the harpsichord house.

Saving Diy Spaces, Katherine Lavacca

Capstones

Saving DIY Spaces explores the importance of DIY spaces– places for artists to express themselves and connect to their communities– as well as the threat they face from the city’s MARCH task force. Integral performance spaces like Shea Stadium, Market Hotel, Palisades and many more have been shuttered by the city’s MARCH taskforce, a collection of city agencies (department of buildings, NYPD, FDNY, liquor authorities, etc.) within the last decade. According to a study conducted by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, 20% of small venues have closed within the last 15 years putting pressure on spaces that are …

A Glance At Astor Piazzolla's Histoire Du Tango: Lecture Recital, Elizabeth Ritter

Honors Projects

This project is a lecture recital including the performance of four musical works from different countries as well as a lecture Astor Piazzolla's Histoire Du Tango. The four pieces performed in this recital were Eldin Burton's Sonatina for flute and piano, the first movement of Astor Piazzolla's Histoire Du Tango, Hirota's Shikararete, and Bela Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances for piccolo and piano. Before performing the Piazzolla, there was a lecture which included the teaching of the musical aspects of the tango within this piece, a short biography of Piazzolla, and a historical look at the four movements of this piece. …

Music And Art: An Aesthetic Experience, Samantha Martin

Honors Projects

This project sought to pair art songs performed at my senior recital with paintings. The paintings chosen had to be within one hundred years of the songs’ composition, from the same country as the composer, and have a similar theme or meaning as the art song. The goal was to create an aesthetic experience, as well as making the meanings of the songs more accessible for the audience, especially if the songs were in a foreign language.

Fall Chamber Series (November 3, 6-7, 2017), Lindenwood University

Student Music Performance Programs

No abstract provided.

Doxology And Discipleship: Principles For How The Worship Leader Functions Pastorally, Robert Balentine

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many Christian worshipers and clergy misunderstand or undervalue the role that the worship leader has as a pastor and one that helps shepherd and shape the doctrinal beliefs of the church. Likewise, this could lead the worship leader to fail to take an intentional approach to worship planning. This lack of understanding and intentionality helps to contribute to the shallow or flawed theology and biblical illiteracy that plagues the church in America. This topic was chosen to demonstrate how music and song are highly effective tools for pastoring and teaching. This project will highlight three principles for how the worship …

Music, Politics, And Sociality: Ethnic Tensions And The Performance Of Gikuyu Nationalism, Peter Njagi Mwangi

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis examines how some selected Gikuyu popular music propagates ethnic tensions in Kenya by promoting Gikuyu nationalism at the expense of Kenyan nationalism. This music derives its themes from the historical period of the Mau Mau armed struggle against British colonists and connects this struggle with everyday experiences of the Gikuyu people. Memory and the performance of everyday life in this music solidifies the Gikuyu community as tied to a common destiny and distances other Kenyan communities from this destiny. The music consolidates Gikuyu ethnic nationalism and authenticates the position of the community as superior and a dominant force …

Evolution Of The Cello In Music, Joshua Propst

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

With this project, I have studied cello music written throughout many of the major musical eras in an attempt to discover the cello, specifically regarding playing style, technique, and tonal ability. The composers included in this project are Bach, Haydn, Dvořák, Pärt, and Amanti. Most of the major musical styles are represented, with a focus on baroque, classical, romantic, minimalism, and jazz. I performed this wide variety of pieces at my Senior Recital for the Western Kentucky University (WKU) Music Dept. The goal of the recital was to showcase the rich musical history of the cello and how cello composition …

Gustave Vogt's Musical Album Of Autographs: A Scholarly Edition, Kristin Leitterman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Gustave Vogt (1781–1870) was the most famous oboist in Europe during the mid-nineteenth century. Throughout his career he played with the best orchestras in Paris, toured Europe widely, and also taught the next generation of oboists at the Paris Conservatoire from 1802–1853. Although many of the details of his life have been lost to history, he did leave behind a record of the esteem in which he was held. This is preserved physically in the form of an album of short musical compositions honoring Vogt, collected between 1831 and 1859. The album has never been published, and is in the …

Looking Through The Glass: An Album Of Original Music And Accompanying Artist Book, Sam Genualdi

Lawrence University Honors Projects

“Looking Through the Glass” is a 12 track, 38-minute long album of original songs accompanied by a hand-bound artist book. The book houses the CD as a well as an accordion-structure text block of original prints. The content and form of the work draw upon the experiences of the author to create a unique and personal take on memory as a human experience. Sam Genualdi composed and produced all of the music as well as created all of the art.

A Graduate Recital In Voice, Joshua Donaldson

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This thesis consists of a vocal performance recital and the accompanying program notes. The recital includes a variety of literature and styles, ranging from the Baroque to the Twentieth Century. The program notes for each selection include biographical information, analysis of the work, poetic analysis (when necessary), and performance concerns. Composers include George Friederich Handel, Robert Schumann, Maurice Ravel, Peter Warlock, and Ernest Charles.

Learning To Sing, Nicholas Tierney

Senior Honors Projects

Singing alone in the car was okay because no one was there to listen. I wanted to see if I could learn to sing, and do it successfully, with a group of people. By joining URI’s University Chorus this semester, I hoped to learn techniques for successful choral singing. Through a guided self-analysis I set out to chronicle my journey from the first rehearsal to the final concerts.

For me, the three most important questions I wanted to answer when staging my research--a blend of an academic analysis and my personal and qualitative data--were: Why do people sing? Why do …

A Study Of The Performance Requirements Found In The Sonata For Solo Violin Op. 40 By Miklós Rózsa, James Moat

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

Miklós Rózsa’s Sonata for Violin Solo, written in 1986, is his last work for violin and completes a collection of pieces written for the violin dating back to 1929. There have been various scholarly papers written about Rózsa’s violin works, including Nancy Jane McKenney’s dissertation: ‘The Chamber Music of Miklós Rózsa’, and the book written by one of Rózsa’s close friends, Christopher Palmer: ‘Miklós Rózsa, A Sketch of his Life and Work’. Neither of these works discusses the Solo Sonata; in fact, Christopher Palmer’s book was published in 1974, 12 years before the sonata was even composed.

This document discusses …

The Biomechanics Of Music Performance, Rachel F. Bellisle, Jessika Decker

Senior Honors Projects

When first learning to play a wind instrument, beginner musicians are taught how to hold their instrument and correctly position their body. They are taught how to sit, where to put their hands and fingers on the keys, and how to hold their arms. This initial lesson on posture and hand positioning is often short, as one quickly moves on to learn the embouchure and breathing techniques that allow sound to be produced. As a musician progresses in skill, positioning is emphasized more, and they learn that it can affect their risk of strain or injury and improve their sound …

Music Therapy’S Impact On Substance Abuse Recovery, Justin Bishop-Williams

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Music therapy has been a viable means of treatment for various medical conditions such as; treating PTSD, mental illness and even used alongside cognitive behavior therapy practices. Since the 70’s licensed therapists have been utilizing music therapy to combat the effect of addiction caused by substance abuse disorders. Addiction impacts the lives of one in ten Americans and only eleven percent seek help in forms of addiction treatment centers or 12-step-programs. With the combination of music therapy, addiction patients can discover feelings and emotions that have been suppressed through years of substance abuse. Forms of music therapy being examined for …

Love Sick The Musical - A Reflection Of My Undergraduate Studies, William Kelly

Senior Theses

No abstract available

The Benefits Of Music In Child Development, Dulce-Paola Ixtupe

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Music is a subject that does not limit children to simply having fun, although “fun” is an essential component when trying to engage children in learning activities. Music further enhances a series of transferable skills and can help children with their learning experience in other subjects. By being part of a fun activity such as music, children are able to acquire affective, cognitive, and evaluative skills, which will further reinforce a variety of areas of their development. When engaged in an activity where recognition and expression of feelings are required, they learn that having feelings is perfectly normal and that …

An Exploration Of Recording And The Music Business, Erika Nalow

Honors Projects

A creative project focused on the ability of an independent musical artist to compose, arrange, record, produce, mix, master, market, and promote their own musical composition.

Expression And Emotion In Music: How Expression And Emotion Affect The Audience’S Perception Of A Performance, Kelly Lynn Palusis

Selected Honors Theses

Expression and emotion in a musical performance affects how the music is perceived by the audience. A study of a song’s composer and the background of the music aids in improving the expression and understanding of vocal music. A study of theatre brings an extra dynamic to a musical performance. Maria Callas, for example, was a pioneer in combining these many factors into her performances. Her application of music and drama in opera makes her an ideal example of a complete and dynamic vocalist. The expression and emotion she poured into each performance transformed how people saw opera and music …

It Can't Be! Faked Functionality And Ambiguity In Brahms's F Minor, Kyle Kostenko

Honors Projects

A performance of any piece of music is not complete if the performer has not looked at the piece from historical and analytical perspectives. Having decided to perform the first movement of Johannes Brahms’s Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120 No.1 on my senior recital, I wanted to analyze the piece so that I had an understanding of how it was composed, hoping that this knowledge would influence my performance. Knowing that Brahms is considered a formalist composer writing in the Romantic era, I hoped to discern how Brahms was able to create a piece that was both Romantic and …

Spring Chamber Series (April 26, 28-30, 2017), Lindenwood University

Student Music Performance Programs

No abstract provided.

Relational Power, Music, And Identity: The Emotional Efficacy Of Congregational Song, Nathan Myrick

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Relational Power, Music, and Identity: The Emotional Efficacy of Congregational Song

The power of congregational song to unify (or divide) people along various lines is well documented. Yet, how this process of uniting or dividing is accomplished has proven necessarily difficult to document. This paper examines the complex and polyvalent factors that contribute to the meaningfulness of congregational music making, seeking to offer a synthetic, conceptual framework with which to engage this often murky milieu.

Employing interdisciplinary research techniques drawn from sociology, ritual studies, and ethnomusicology, I construct a conceptual framework with which to understand the profoundly formative power of …

Jazz Orchestra Concert(January 27, 2017), Lindenwood University

Student Music Performance Programs

Event program for the Jazz Orchestra Concert(January 27, 2017).

Belsen Silence, Monica Gil

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

I often look to text for musical inspiration, and after searching through swaths of Holocaust poetry online, I discovered "Belsen Silence" by Iolo Lewis. Its message is less graphic than some of the other texts I found, but that in no way detracts from its power of emotion. It is about looking back, tending to old wounds that are no longer fresh but are still healing. The Holocaust may have happened over fifty years ago, but it is still relevant, even alarmingly so at times. Today's reflections on yesterday's shortcomings are arguably the only way we learn, and that is …

On Unaccompanied Horn Music, Jason D. Klinect

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Unaccompanied music provides a host of challenges for solo musicians, and especially for wind players. The performer cannot rely on accompaniment for embouchure rest or for realization of the harmonic content, due to only being able to play one pitch at a time. An unaccompanied musician has to breathe life into the music by themselves, requiring an intimate knowledge of the music, even moreso than is already required. The pacing of the music, the dynamics, phrasing, and articulation need to be clearly conveyed to the audience by the performer alone. Likely due to the horn not having valves until the …

An Exploration Of Musical Theatre Vocal Technique And Style 1950 - Present, Emily Slomovits

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

My Honors Thesis Recital is the culmination of my study of how singing techniques and styles have changed in musical theatre since its Golden Age in the 1940's and 50's from a semi-classical, operatic style and technique, to a sound much more infused with jazz, pop, rock, and other contemporary music styles. This recital explores works by some of the greatest musical theatre composers and lyricists, starting with giants like Rodgers and Hammerstein and Leonard Bernstein, and working up to present day with modern greats like Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, and Jason Robert Brown. I will demonstrate the evolution of …

Mexica Music, Tizoc E. Ramirez-Marquez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper explores the society of Mexica, or the Aztecs, and some of the instruments that were produced in the civilization and used in today’s compositions. The history and their creation mythology will also be deliberated for those individuals who do not know this information of the culture. In the history, the subjects of the Mexica constructing a giant city in a lake to the conquest that was lead by Hernan Cortez will be discussed. The creation story will also exhibit the ideology of the Mexica and how their culture is sustained before the conquest. In the music section, the …

Songs From The Willow Tree: Staging Collective Inspiration For Creative Songwriting, Aubrey W. Carpenter

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The songwriting process, inspiration to song, can take many forms. This project explores a highly structured approach, using themes derived from reported individual experience to direct the creation of musical ends addressing common experience.

Fall Chamber Series (November 17, 19-20, 2016), Lindenwood University

Student Music Performance Programs

No abstract provided.

Court Musician: Four-Year Starter Sam Willson Is Composed On The Basketball Court - And At The Keyboard, Charles Eichacker

Colby Magazine

Four-year starter Sam Willson is composed on the basketball court—and at the keyboard