Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / The following document is research and analysis from the comprehensive examination question based on the Graduate Conducting Recital of Matthew S. Bradford. The recital, performed by the Clay Center Community High School Band, was given in the Martyn/Snodgrass Auditorium of Clay Center Community High School on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 7:30 PM. The repertoire included Yorkshire Ballad by James Barnes, La Virgen De La Macarena arranged by Charles Koff, Provenance by Robert W. Smith, Nessum Dorma arranged by George Hattendorf, and Brighton Beach March by William Latham. This document contains theoretical and historical analysis, and outlines the procedures of planning and performing the graduate conducting recital.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Slawomir Dobrzanski / This Master's report encompasses analysis of the four works performed on November 14th, 2007 for the author's Master's recital. The analysis was based on the author's experience with the pieces. Many sources were utilized to discuss composers' biographies and background information of the works. The compositions are Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata in F major, Op.10, Franz Schubert's Sonata in A major, D. 664, Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin's Nocturne in F sharp major, Op. 15, and Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No.3 in A minor.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Kelvin T. Kerstetter / CHRISTOPHER ROBERT NICHOLS 138 Years of the Clarinet: Program Notes for a Master's Clarinet Recital of Works by Reger, Smith, Donizetti, Muczynski, and Schumann (Under the direction of Tod Kerstetter) This study provides a stylistic and structural analysis of Max Reger's Sonata in B-flat for clarinet and piano, Op. 107, William O. Smith's Five Pieces for Clarinet Solo (1959), Gaetano Donizetti's Primo Studio for solo clarinet (1821), Robert Muczynski's Six Duos for flute and clarinet, Op. 24, and Robert Schumann's Soiréestücke for clarinet and piano, Op. 73. This study contains five chapters, one devoted to each piece. Chapters include the composer's biographical information, harmonic and structural analyses, performance considerations, date of completion, premiere, dedication or commission information, and publication information. INDEX WORDS: Clarinet, flute, piano, woodwind, chamber music, Donizetti, Muczynski, Reger, Schumann, Smith, performance.

Master of Music / Department of Music / David A. Littrell / This document contains an overview of the music performed in my graduate cello recital. Included is biographical information about the composers, historical background, theoretical analysis, stylistic and technical considerations. The recital was given at 5:45 p.m., April 28, 2008, in All Faiths Chapel, Kansas State University with pianist William Wingfield. Program: Sonata in F Major for Piano and Violoncello, Op. 5, No. 1, by Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto in B-flat Major for Cello and Piano, by Luigi Boccherini, ed. by Friedrich Grützmacher, and Suite No. 3 for Unaccompanied Cello in C major by Johann Sebastian Bach. Also included is an in-depth look at the Suite for Unaccompanied Cello in C-sharp Minor, which was performed by David Littrell at a recital given at 5:45 p.m., May 6, 2008 in All Faiths Chapel, Kansas State University. This recital featured works by Michael V. Inman. Program: Short Pieces for Trumpet, Bass and Percussion, Elegie for Anyone, Matrix I, and Suite for Unaccompanied Cello in C-sharp Minor.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / The following report is research and analysis of major wind band literature for the Graduate Conducting Recital performed by the Kansas State University Wind Ensemble on March 13th, 2011 under the direction of Lyle Sobba. The repertoire for the concert was comprised of the following pieces: Funeral March for Brass Choir by Edvard Grieg, Dance Mix by Rob Smith, and An Original Suite by Gordon Jacob. This examination, through thorough research and theoretical analysis, is a compilation of the documents created to effectively rehearse the compositions. The report also contains documents pertaining to the planning and executing of the Graduate Conducting Recital.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Jana R. Fallin / Who was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophius Mozart? He was a child prodigy who dazzled Kings, Queens, Emperors and Empresses as a young boy and lead an remarkable life in his first ten years. The facts of Mozart’s childhood are known and available, however the vast majority of research is devoted to Mozart’s music, life and career during his adult years. Perhaps the time for a child to begin to realize the importance of Mozart in history would be to create a connection between young Mozart’s daily activities to a student of parallel age. The purpose of the study is to illuminate the life of the child prodigy Wolfgang Mozart using creative digital storytelling for elementary aged students. Due to the awarding of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, research concerning Mozart’s rise and fall in fame was completed in Vienna, Austria, June 21 through July 16, 2010. The resulting focus of the research was to bring awareness to the minds of elementary students of Mozart’s child prodigy years. Using digital storytelling, listening maps, and composition projects, students will step into the world of Mozart as a composer and begin to relate his life to theirs. Data analysis will establish the effective use of digital storytelling to reveal the student’s ability to correlate the boyhood life of Mozart with the master composer. The study was completed in a pilot program in McPherson, Kansas in January 2011.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Gary Mortenson / This Master’s report focuses on analyzing the four works performed on the author’s Master’s recital on April 10, 2011, from a biographical, historical, theoretical, and technical standpoint. These works include André Jolivet’s Concertino for Trumpet, Oskar Böhme’s Concerto for Trumpet in F Minor, op. 18, Tomaso Albinoni’s Sonata á 6 con Tromba, and Manuel de Falla’s Suite of Old Spanish Dances.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / This document is written in support of a conducting recital given in partial fulfillment of the Master’s of Music Education with an Emphasis in Instrumental Conducting at Kansas State University. It encompasses the historical research, theoretical analysis, and rehearsal recommendations and considerations necessary to prepare the selected works for performance. The pieces analyzed are Michael Daugherty’s Motown Metal, Stanley Leonard’s Antiphonies, and Ira Hearshen’s second movement, “after the Thunderer” from Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa. I seek to highlight the significance of these works to the literature of their mediums, and show how they are valuable pieces of literature in the contemporary repertoire. In addition, I offer my philosophies on music learning and literature selection as a means to better understand the process entailed in laying the groundwork for successful authentic learning experiences for conductor and students.

Master of Arts / Department of English / Dean G. Hall / Salman Rushdie's 1999 novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet is ostensibly a rock 'n' roll novel, largely set in the 1960s, that traces the commercial rise of Indian rock star protagonists Vina Apsara and Ormus Cama. As their fame and wealth rise to global status and their stage show comes to entail a logistical complexity of military proportions, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern the couple's earlier countercultural ideals within their new established culture status. I argue that despite the change from countercultural to establishment-based values in the novel's protagonists, Rushdie does make a case in The Ground Beneath Her Feet for the possibility of countercultural efficacy against the commodifying culture of global capitalism (which I refer to as the "Frame"). His recipe for combating the exclusive hierarchies produced by the Frame is a combination of the non-totalizing politics of postmodernism and the subversive potential of uncommodified rock music. I pay close attention to establishing the historical templates--John Lennon of the Beatles and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys--of the novel's protagonists in an effort to understand the sort of countercultural alternative Rushdie is proposing. I likewise focus on the novel's depiction of the Beach Boys' Smile album, which as a still commercially unreleased record, reinforces Rushdie's imperative in The Ground Beneath Her Feet for an uncommodifying counterculture and works in tandem with his portrayals of the artistic plights of several minor characters in the novel as well.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank Tracz / This document is based on the preparation, rehearsal, and performance of selected pieces for the Graduate Conducting recital of Joshua D. Hankey. The pieces examined in the theoretical and historical analysis for this report are Ancient Voices by Michael Sweeney, The Headless Horseman by Timothy Broege and Cut to the Chase by Todd Stalter. This document also contains rehearsal plans and procedures for the preparation of the literature. The recital was performed on May 9, 2013 in the Santa Fe Trail Middle School Gymnasium on the campus of Santa Fe Trail Middle School, and was performed by the members of the Santa Fe Trail Middle School 7th grade Intermediate Band, and the Santa Fe Trail Middle School Concert Band.