The French tuba was a much-needed addition to the brasswind musical instrument family, adding depth, projection and a unique color to French orchestral literature. Its ancestors the serpent and ophicleide both lacked the tonal stability and sonic power to adequately present the bass wind role in a robust orchestra. Through the efforts of its developer and patent-holder Adolphe Sax, the French tuba made converts among players and composers, effectively creating its own niche in music history. Musical tastes change however, and the French tuba has been largely supplanted by tubists using instruments twice its size. Since French composers composed specifically with the distinct timbre of the French tuba in mind, this unique and characteristic musical entity deserves a resurgence in performances of French orchestral repertoire.

Violin repertoire composed in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries placed new demands on performers. While numerous pedagogues have written etudes and treatises analyzing traditional techniques, far fewer have thoroughly examined contemporary techniques. Many of the existing etudes and exercises inspired by contemporary violin repertoire are of a very high difficulty level and may seem unapproachable to students with little to no experience performing the music of recent decades. As a result, many violin students are unacquainted with the language of new music. This dissertation is intended to help fill a gap in the pedagogical literature by serving as a resource that familiarizes advanced students with the notation and proper execution of the non-traditional techniques commonly found in contemporary violin music. This document includes a survey of violin repertoire written since 1970, an analysis of the non-traditional techniques used most often in the works examined, methods for approaching specific technical problems that arise in them, and nine etudes originally composed by this author. The etudes focus on nine contemporary techniques, ranging from contact point variations to changing subdivisions, and are intended for study by advanced violinists interested in performing contemporary music.

The purpose of this document is to investigate how trumpet students at the University of North Texas experience music performance anxiety and to find out how professors prepare students for controlling music performance anxiety experiences. The interviewees were ten undergraduates and ten graduate students, as well as three trumpet professors who teach at the University of North Texas. The questionnaire responses of the student interviewees were examined, and literature is provided that address the most common performance related psychological and physiological symptoms experienced by the trumpet students. Effective and healthy strategies are discussed that were offered by the trumpet professors, and suggestions are made regarding potential benefits and detriments of trumpet performance anxiety.

One of the most recognized icons of Mexico is the mariachi moderno tradition, which in the global popular imaginary, is associated with nostalgic, humorous, and emotional songs of love, heartache, death, drinking, and place. Inseparably fused to tequila and the historic charro figure, mariachi moderno completes a symbolic trinity of hetero-nationalist culture, conveyed within a popular imaginary of authentic mexicanidad (Mexican-ness). For mariachis and aficionados in Mexico, performative hypermasculine machismo acts as a perceptual baseline, structuring modes of feeling that signify an experience of authentic nationalist musicality This process is musically constructed in an incorporation of bodily movement, instruments, sound timbres, and symbolic clothing, simultaneously gestured with a heavy male-accent fusing an experience that feels genuinely Mexican. This reflexive signification is a consequence of the lived experience, shared dispositions, and competencies learned in the habitus, constituting real and imagined notions of hetero-nationalist culture. I refer to this musical semiosis as mariachismo, a neologism describing an intersubjective experience of machismo-infused mariachi subjectivity, ritualized through repeated gestures of sound, lyric, and corporeality. The semiotic power of mariachismo is most potent for subjects enculturated to Mexico's hetero-nationalist culture, shaped by popular imaginaries operationalizing gender and mexicanidad, connecting the two, making them feel unquestioned, natural, and unmediated. The ontology of mariachismo, is in part revealed through an analysis of metaphors used by practitioners and aficionados to describe mariachi's musical techniques and social practices. These metaphors index an archive of embodied knowledge, a lived experience where hypermasculine subjectivity is reified and other forms of gendered performativity, including femininity and non-hetero subjectivities, are marginalized or purposefully subverted. Employing ethnomusicological analysis and building on concepts of habitus, performativity, and musical semiotics, this dissertation illustrates how mariachismo aesthetically enacts sonic-somatic gestures, enhanced by fetishized clothing, and construed within a symbolic music practice, all of which ritualize a perceptual experience of authentic mariachi musicality.

The first Western opera to be performed in Korea was Verdi's La Traviata on January 16, 1948, by the Joseon Opera Company. The first Korean opera, Chunhyangjeon by Jae Myung Hyun, premiered at the Korean National Theater in May 1950, just before the outbreak of the Korean War. Daejeon.go.kr reports that since that year approximately 200 Korean operas have been produced in Korea. Nevertheless, there have been consistent efforts to create and introduce Korean operas to the public. Most of them ended up being "one-off" performances with a single production. Most research on Korean opera has focused on its history, the challenges of producing new operas, or an analysis of selected Korean operas. This study equips singers with the following: pertinent historical background with the libretto, a synopsis, research regarding the composer and librettist, a character analysis, vocal and textual analysis of the selected opera arias, instruction regarding the Korean language, IPA, and a word-by-word translation of the text. I also make recommendations for tenor arias from Korean operas for singers with specific voice types.

There is currently a great deal of information available to euphonium players who double on trombone, but far less for euphonium players who double on tuba. This dissertation takes information gathered from many top euphonium/tuba doublers, including: Benjamin Pierce, D.M.A., Aaron Tindall, D.M.A., Gail Robertson, D.M.A., Gretchen Renshaw James, D.M.A., Matthew Murchison, D.M.A., Matthew Shipes, D.M.A., Matthew Tropman, D.M.A., and Keith Kile, and presents a synopsis of their thoughts/reflections on tuba doubling. This dissertation is designed to aide euphonium players in the process of learning tuba, enabling them to be as efficient as possible with both their time and money throughout the process. Topics covered include: difficulties unique to the euphonium/tuba double and approaches to overcome them, similarities and differences between euphonium and tuba playing (from the perspective of euphonium/tuba doublers), "reverse" benefits of euphonium/tuba doubling on the primary instrument, literature recommendations for euphonium/tuba doublers, and equipment considerations for euphonium/tuba doublers.

The purposes of this descriptive survey research study were (a) to describe novice band directors' perceptions of the importance of skills/knowledge used n effective music teaching, (b) to describe novice band directors' perception of the difficulty of acquiring each skill or knowledge component, (c) to compare novice band directors' perceptions of the importance and difficulty of the skills/knowledge used in their classrooms, (d) to describe ways that novice band directors perceived university coursework as helpful in acquiring teaching skills/knowledge, and (e) to describe improvements to university coursework that novice band directors perceived could help future band directors. The personal skills/knowledge category (M = 4.64) was rated highest for importance, followed by the teaching (M = 4.60) and musical (M = 4.29) categories. Additionally, participants rated the personal skills/knowledge category (M = 3.57) as the easiest to acquire, followed by musical (M = 3.14), and teaching (M = 3.09) categories. There was a statistically significant difference between teaching importance ratings and teaching acquisition ratings, with the teaching importance category rated higher by participants. Participants perceived secondary instrument instruction, teaching experiences, core music curriculum, and practical skills/knowledge as positive aspects of university coursework. Finally, secondary instrument instruction, field experiences, non-instructional aspects of teaching, and musical pedagogy were reported by participants as areas for possible improvement.

This research is an investigation of how the lullaby, which is often viewed as purely a simple and pretty song, is a multifaceted vocal tradition that carries historical and cultural significance. As an exploration of how sociocultural factors impact the emotions expressed and the stories told in lullabies, this research encourages deeper examinations of lullaby texts in relation to the historical, cultural, and social aspects reflected in their textual themes. Through the close analysis of text and music of folk and art song lullabies, I propose that the lullaby's function extends beyond putting a baby to sleep; the further roles of the lullaby encompass cultural connections and therapeutic functions for both the parent and child. As a result of these sociocultural considerations, dialogue exists between the lullaby text and its music that do not always match the song's primary intent to provide peace and comfort.

Viola pedagogy has historically been closely intertwined with and highly dependent upon violin repertoire. As the viola emerged as an instrument worthy of independent study, many still rely on transcriptions of violin etudes. Fortunately, the efforts of performers, teachers, and scholars have brought forth discoveries of original viola literature and thus shifted toward the perception that viola should begin to embrace its individual pedagogy. Viennese composer and violist Marco Frank contributed three volumes of Viola-Etuden and a method book, Praktische Viola-Schule, which are suitable for the intermediate violist. This document explores and analyzes the usefulness of an original viola series in comparison to the ‘tried and true' violin transcriptions.

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