The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand how five choral music educators’ life experiences, prior knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, and understandings surrounding the formation of their musical selves have come to shape their professional practice. A secondary purpose of this research was to examine institutional context and governing ideologies of the choral music discipline. The study involved five choral music educators—including the researcher—of various ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds from Winnipeg, Manitoba. This research is grounded in what Beattie (1995) terms the dialectical and collaborative nature of narrative inquiry, but also looks to reflexive inquiry and life history methodologies (Cole & Knowles, 2000), as well as the practice of collective biography (Davies & Gannon, 2006) to shape its methodological framework. As such, autobiographical forms of self-study research are reconceptualized as collaborative self-study. Data collection methods included journal writing, personal in-depth interviews, and participant observation. In particular, regular focus group sessions, which included peer interviewing, played a central role throughout the research process. This forum allowed participants to share their musical life histories and interrogate each others’ narratives, thereby triggering musical memories and exposing the interconnectivity of musical pasts to current professional practice. Data is re-presented in rich narratives which trace the path of each participant’s musical life history in interaction with theory and relevant literature. Numerous themes, sub-themes, tensions, and epiphanal episodes (Denzin, 1994) are illuminated. Moreover, connections between participants’ experiences and resultant ways of knowing are exposed, and we are confronted with “the unexpectedness of universality” (Hofstadter, 2007, p. 242). Thus, our commonessence is revealed. Participant chapters are followed by a postlude featuring the researcher’s personal narratives, an examination of researcher voice, and questions regarding the practice of choral music education that have surfaced through reflexive analysis of the data. This research strives to be a model for personal professional development among choral music educators, and provides a template for future purposeful discussion in the choral discipline.

Abstract Evaluative performances, such as festivals and conservatory examinations, frequently play a large role in formal piano study. Many teachers and parents assume that requiring students to participate in these evaluations will result in several benefits, including increased discipline and motivation, exposure to a balanced and rigorous music curriculum, and access to helpful feedback from expert adjudicators and examiners. However, not all students experience positive outcomes as a result of their participation in evaluative performances. Using a multi-method approach that incorporates grounded theory and narrative inquiry, this research provides insight into how beginning and intermediate piano students experience participating in festivals and examinations and what factors contribute to the quality of students’ experiences. Positive experiences with evaluative performances are characterized by positive emotional outcomes, meaningful music learning, and the development of a strong musical identity. The theoretical model developed through this research presents several important contributors to students’ positive experiences with evaluative performances, including students’ understandings, values, and goals related to music learning, and their abilities and inclinations as performers. The entire learning process must take place within a supportive relational context. When students have positive experiences with evaluative performances, their self-efficacy is heightened. They also experience self-determination regarding their music studies and their involvement in evaluative performances. The self-efficacy and self-determination that follow students’ success and positive experiences motivate further involvement in music study.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand how five choral music educators’ life experiences, prior knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, and understandings surrounding the formation of their musical selves have come to shape their professional practice. A secondary purpose of this research was to examine institutional context and governing ideologies of the choral music discipline. The study involved five choral music educators—including the researcher—of various ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds from Winnipeg, Manitoba. This research is grounded in what Beattie (1995) terms the dialectical and collaborative nature of narrative inquiry, but also looks to reflexive inquiry and life history methodologies (Cole & Knowles, 2000), as well as the practice of collective biography (Davies & Gannon, 2006) to shape its methodological framework. As such, autobiographical forms of self-study research are reconceptualized as collaborative self-study. Data collection methods included journal writing, personal in-depth interviews, and participant observation. In particular, regular focus group sessions, which included peer interviewing, played a central role throughout the research process. This forum allowed participants to share their musical life histories and interrogate each others’ narratives, thereby triggering musical memories and exposing the interconnectivity of musical pasts to current professional practice. Data is re-presented in rich narratives which trace the path of each participant’s musical life history in interaction with theory and relevant literature. Numerous themes, sub-themes, tensions, and epiphanal episodes (Denzin, 1994) are illuminated. Moreover, connections between participants’ experiences and resultant ways of knowing are exposed, and we are confronted with “the unexpectedness of universality” (Hofstadter, 2007, p. 242). Thus, our commonessence is revealed. Participant chapters are followed by a postlude featuring the researcher’s personal narratives, an examination of researcher voice, and questions regarding the practice of choral music education that have surfaced through reflexive analysis of the data. This research strives to be a model for personal professional development among choral music educators, and provides a template for future purposeful discussion in the choral discipline.

In this dissertation I examine arguments for teaching post-secondary violin students to be versatile musicians rather than specialists in one genre or area of music. In order to do this, I assess the professional and educational opportunities in Toronto based on interviews with nine professional violinists as well as teachers and administrators at four institutions that offer post-secondary instruction in violin performance. To supplement information gathered through interviews, violinists and violists performing with the National Ballet of Canada and the Esprit Orchestra were asked to respond to a questionnaire regarding their training and work experiences. Data collected through fieldwork is contextualized by an analysis of scholarly writing, periodicals and websites on the topic of current post-secondary music curriculum and pedagogy methods. Throughout the dissertation, I build the case that, despite strong opinions and many years of pedagogy that emphasize the contrary, versatility provides many advantages to professional violinists when compared to specialization. In order to maximize the benefits of versatility in a professional career, I draw on Benjamin Brinner’s notion of core competences (Brinner 1995) to posit the skills necessary for professional musicians to pursue successful, enduring careers in Toronto. Applying these core competences to an analysis of violinists’ training, I explore the violin curriculum of post-secondary music schools in Toronto: The University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School, Humber College, and York University to examine how students are being trained. In particular, I query how students are being prepared to be profession violinists with a focus on whetherthey are being prepared to be versatile musicians or specialists in one style. I conclude by offering recommendations as to how to better teach versatility based on the findings of the previous chapters. I explain that versatility can be nurtured in the school environment through teacher training and curricular changes that emphasize informal learning approaches, shifts in conventionally held assumptions about musical value and career success, and by encouraging exploration and improvisation as a basis of developing creativity.

Abstract Evaluative performances, such as festivals and conservatory examinations, frequently play a large role in formal piano study. Many teachers and parents assume that requiring students to participate in these evaluations will result in several benefits, including increased discipline and motivation, exposure to a balanced and rigorous music curriculum, and access to helpful feedback from expert adjudicators and examiners. However, not all students experience positive outcomes as a result of their participation in evaluative performances. Using a multi-method approach that incorporates grounded theory and narrative inquiry, this research provides insight into how beginning and intermediate piano students experience participating in festivals and examinations and what factors contribute to the quality of students’ experiences. Positive experiences with evaluative performances are characterized by positive emotional outcomes, meaningful music learning, and the development of a strong musical identity. The theoretical model developed through this research presents several important contributors to students’ positive experiences with evaluative performances, including students’ understandings, values, and goals related to music learning, and their abilities and inclinations as performers. The entire learning process must take place within a supportive relational context. When students have positive experiences with evaluative performances, their self-efficacy is heightened. They also experience self-determination regarding their music studies and their involvement in evaluative performances. The self-efficacy and self-determination that follow students’ success and positive experiences motivate further involvement in music study.

In this dissertation I examine arguments for teaching post-secondary violin students to be versatile musicians rather than specialists in one genre or area of music. In order to do this, I assess the professional and educational opportunities in Toronto based on interviews with nine professional violinists as well as teachers and administrators at four institutions that offer post-secondary instruction in violin performance. To supplement information gathered through interviews, violinists and violists performing with the National Ballet of Canada and the Esprit Orchestra were asked to respond to a questionnaire regarding their training and work experiences. Data collected through fieldwork is contextualized by an analysis of scholarly writing, periodicals and websites on the topic of current post-secondary music curriculum and pedagogy methods. Throughout the dissertation, I build the case that, despite strong opinions and many years of pedagogy that emphasize the contrary, versatility provides many advantages to professional violinists when compared to specialization. In order to maximize the benefits of versatility in a professional career, I draw on Benjamin Brinner’s notion of core competences (Brinner 1995) to posit the skills necessary for professional musicians to pursue successful, enduring careers in Toronto. Applying these core competences to an analysis of violinists’ training, I explore the violin curriculum of post-secondary music schools in Toronto: The University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School, Humber College, and York University to examine how students are being trained. In particular, I query how students are being prepared to be profession violinists with a focus on whetherthey are being prepared to be versatile musicians or specialists in one style. I conclude by offering recommendations as to how to better teach versatility based on the findings of the previous chapters. I explain that versatility can be nurtured in the school environment through teacher training and curricular changes that emphasize informal learning approaches, shifts in conventionally held assumptions about musical value and career success, and by encouraging exploration and improvisation as a basis of developing creativity.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / This document is constructed on the comprehensive examination question based on the Graduate Conducting Recital of Gavin W. Smith. The theoretical and historical analysis includes Spring Wind – Weather Movement I and Storm Warning and Dance – Weather Movement II by Steve Riley, Prelude Op. 34, No. 14 by Dmitri Shostakovich, and Tempered Steel by Charles R. Young. Along with the analysis, this document contains the rehearsal plans and procedures for the preparation of the literature. The recital was performed by Kansas State University’s Symphony Band on March 13, 2007 in McCain Auditorium at 7:30pm.

Examinations administered by the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) play a major role in the musical education of many individuals across Canada. The evaluative process needs to be a constructive one in order to ensure its positive impact on students’ musical education. Examiners who are confident and comfortable in their roles as assessors are more likely to provide this ideal environment for the students. Individuals at the dawn of their examining careers are prone to lower confidence and comfort levels due to their inexperience. Yet all music students deserve an optimal examination situation, even from new examiners. Ensuring that an examiner receives proper training will help to increase their confidence and comfort levels while assessing students. This study examined the elements of an examiner’s education, experience and preparation which contributed to higher confidence and comfort levels as they participated in the RCM evaluative process. Ten individuals participated in surveys and interviews. Seven were recent apprentices of the examiner training program and three were senior examiners. Their experiences and insights given in a narrative form shed light on which elements of their background and training benefited them as examiners. According to the participants, varied and extensive pedagogical training, taking exams as students and intensive performance education gave them the most advantages during their early careers as examiners. Regarding the examiner apprenticeship program, participants felt that they would have benefited from more practical experience during the early classroom seminar, additional opportunities to observe students at varying performing levels and more time for discussion with their mentors. These recommendations for background preparation and enhanced training are intended to give examiners greater confidence in their evaluative roles early in their careers, enabling them to provide constructive and effective assessments for students and their teachers.

Examinations administered by the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) play a major role in the musical education of many individuals across Canada. The evaluative process needs to be a constructive one in order to ensure its positive impact on students’ musical education. Examiners who are confident and comfortable in their roles as assessors are more likely to provide this ideal environment for the students. Individuals at the dawn of their examining careers are prone to lower confidence and comfort levels due to their inexperience. Yet all music students deserve an optimal examination situation, even from new examiners. Ensuring that an examiner receives proper training will help to increase their confidence and comfort levels while assessing students. This study examined the elements of an examiner’s education, experience and preparation which contributed to higher confidence and comfort levels as they participated in the RCM evaluative process. Ten individuals participated in surveys and interviews. Seven were recent apprentices of the examiner training program and three were senior examiners. Their experiences and insights given in a narrative form shed light on which elements of their background and training benefited them as examiners. According to the participants, varied and extensive pedagogical training, taking exams as students and intensive performance education gave them the most advantages during their early careers as examiners. Regarding the examiner apprenticeship program, participants felt that they would have benefited from more practical experience during the early classroom seminar, additional opportunities to observe students at varying performing levels and more time for discussion with their mentors. These recommendations for background preparation and enhanced training are intended to give examiners greater confidence in their evaluative roles early in their careers, enabling them to provide constructive and effective assessments for students and their teachers.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / This report contains lesson plans as well as a theoretical and historical analysis of the literature performed in the Graduate Conducting Recital of Veronica Kongs. The recital was held in the Satanta Junior/Senior High School Auditorium in Satanta, Kansas on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. The recital featured performances by the Junior High and High School Concert Bands. Literature for the Junior High Concert Band included Korean Folk Rhapsody arranged by James Curnow and Riders on the Southern Front by Roland Barrett. The Junior High/High School Concert Band literature consisted of For Thy Courts Above by Ed Huckeby and Of Dark Lords and Ancient Kings by Roland Barrett. This report utilizes two analytical methods, the Larry Blocher/Richard Miles Unit Study model used in the Teaching Music through Performance in Band Books and the Frank Tracz approach of macro-micro score analysis.