The topic of this artistic research project is the musical performance method where a solo singer conducts an orchestra while singing. The aim is to shine a light on the effect this performance practice has on the quality of the performance; if it hampers the singer’s ability to interpret the lyrics and make theatrical gestures or if the musical performance can possibly benefit from having one person singing and conducting. The core of the project is a concert in Reykjavík organised by this author where she performed as solo soprano and conductor with a chamber orchestra. The research was made from her personal perspective, while the views of instrumentalists also played a significant role. The author observed the internationally renowned soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan as she rehearsed and performed a concert with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (ISO) at the Reykjavík Arts Festival. For this project the writer enjoyed the cooperation of three composers whom she commissioned to write pieces especially for her to sing and conduct, and together with Zerbinetta's grand aria by Richard Strauss this music was premiered by her and a chamber orchestra at her concert in Eldborg, Harpa at the Reykjavík Opera Days on November 5th, 2022. / <p>Soprano takes the baton!</p><p>In Eldborg, Harpa on November 5th, 2022 at the Reykjavík Opera Days festival finale.</p><p>Ragnheiður Ingunn Jóhannsdóttir, soprano and conductor.</p><p>Program:</p><p>Jóhann G. Jóhannsson: Be not afeard – Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Chamber Ensemble (2022), premiere </p><p>Lyrics: William Shakespeare (Caliban’s Speech from The Tempest)</p><p>I: Be not afeard - lyrics: William Shakespeare</p><p>II: Ekkert að hræðast - translation: Helgi Hálfdanarson</p><p>III: Var icke rädd - translation: Carl August Hagberg</p><p>—</p><p>Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir: Fasaskipti (2022), premiere</p><p>Poem: Þórdís Helgadóttir</p><p>—</p><p>María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir: Djúpalón (2022), premiere</p><p>Poem: Þóra Hjörleifsdóttir</p><p>—</p><p>Richard Strauss: Großmächtige Prinzessin (1912), Zerbinetta’s aria from Ariadne auf Naxos</p><p>Lyrics: Hugo von Hofmannsthal</p><p></p><p>Chamber orchestra:</p><p>Rannveig Marta Sarc (violin), Gunnhildur Daðadóttir (violin), Anna Elísabet Sigurðardóttir (viola), Guðný Jónasdóttir (cello), Xun Yang (double bass), Kristín Ýr Jónsdóttir (flute), Julia Hantschel (oboe), Birkir Örn Hafsteinsson ((clarinet), Bryndís Þórsdóttir (bassoon), Stefán Jón Bernharðsson (horn), Helga Bryndís Magnúsdóttir (piano) &amp; Helgi Þorleiksson (percussion)</p><p>Recording: Stúdíó Sýrland </p><p></p><p>The concert was sponsored by:</p><p>Óperudagar – The Reykjavík Opera Days.</p><p>Tónlistarsjóður – “Music Fund” (Iceland Ministry of Culture).</p><p>Hljóðritasjóður – “Music Recording Fund” (Iceland Ministry of Culture).</p><p>Tónskáldasjóður RÚV og STEFs – “Composers’ Fund” </p>

Orientador: Carlos Fernando Fiorini / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T20:59:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jennings_Claudia_M.pdf: 7069655 bytes, checksum: a9c68d2a82e06d8f0e585572a9937685 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O Stabat Mater op. 53 do polonês Karol Szymanowski é uma peça representativa da fase de maturidade do compositor, na qual ele emprega elementos da música tradicional polonesa estilizados e técnicas modernas de composição. Este trabalho é dirigido ao regente que planeja executar o Stabat Mater. Nele são apresentadas sugestões de preparação e interpretação da obra a partir da análise dos elementos estruturais e textuais dirigida para sua performance. Discute-se também a escolha do coro e da orquestra, bem como composições do programa de concerto. Por se tratar da execução da obra em sua língua original, também é apresentado um guia da pronúncia da língua polonesa voltado aos cantores falantes do português, incluindo a transcrição fonética do texto / Abstract: The Stabat Mater op. 53 from the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski is a representative work from his mature phase, in which he uses elements from the traditional Polish music and modern compositional techniques. This study is directed toward the conductor who plans to perform the Stabat Mater. The paper presents a background of the work from the analysis of structural and textual elements regarding the performance. The choice of the choir and orchestra is discussed, as well as the possibilities of concert programming. Because of the fact that the work will be performed in the original language, a pronunciation guide of the Polish language is presented and directed to Portuguese-speaking singers, including the phonetic transcription of the text / Mestrado / Praticas Interpretativas / Mestra em Música

According to the American League of Orchestras' most recent report, Michael Daugherty is one of the ten most performed American composers of concert music in modern times. He has received six GRAMMY awards, including awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2011 and 2017. Characteristics of Daugherty's music are diverse: colliding tonalities and blocks of sound, driving polyrhythmic counterpoint, and jazz and pop elements. His music can be minimalistic at times and at others, stirringly melodic. Amongst this eclecticism, a fascination with American iconography remains a consistent hallmark of his music, exemplified by titles such as American Gothic, Jackie O, or Lost Vegas. Daugherty has stated that his goal is to create sophisticated, abstract music that is also catchy or memorable, with melodies and cultural allusions that audiences can "hang their hat on." Despite widespread success, relatively little scholarly work has been done on Daugherty's music, providing an opportunity for further research. The primary goal of this study is to add to the literature on Michael Daugherty by providing an analysis and conductor's guide of his first choral-orchestral work, Mount Rushmore. It is a genuine show piece, galvanizing and colorful, modestly demanding of the listener, and appreciated by individuals of diverse musical backgrounds. The work also contains multitudes, offering layers of musical complexity and extensive historical symbolism for those who wish to engage further. Daugherty's Mount Rushmore offers immediate appeal and an excellent return on investment. Using interviews with the composer as well as detailed formal, harmonic, and historical-textual analysis, this paper provides in-depth information and guidance to future conductors who wish to present an appealing choral-orchestral work by a prominent, living American composer. Conductors who program Daugherty's Mount Rushmore will find it valuable for their ensemble and community for years to come.

Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments (1964) by English Composer Harrison Birtwistle represent extended notation, complex meters, and extended instrumental techniques. After World War II, the style and techniques of musical composition evolved considerably and musical trends began to continuously change. Conducting contemporary compositions requires new approaches in conducting methods. This paper examines a) introduce important elements of Birtwistle's compositions in the 1960, b) include an updated score of Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments (notated by the author), and c) provide a performance guide to the work.

The Choral Music of Elaine Hagenberg explores the oeuvre of composer Elaine Hagenberg through a musicological, qualitative, and performance-based analysis of her compositional style that has led to her increasing acclaim. This study serves as the first primary source of scholarly output on her. Through an examination of her musical background as a pianist and choral educator, one can identify her principal sources of musical inspiration: text, nature, and her faith. Shaped by these experiences, her compositional philosophy encapsulates five elements of text, form, rhythm, melody, and harmony as she strives to produce singer-centric, authentic, and socially relevant compositions that unite people together. What begins as a consideration of her background and compositional process culminates in practical musical analysis and conducting and vocal considerations to aid future conductors in creating compelling performances of her works. The compositions discussed are As The Rain Hides The Stars (2015), O Love (2016), Song of Miriam (2019), My Companion (2019), and Alleluia (2020).

Studiens syfte var att undersöka och utvärdera hur dirigenten på effektivast möjliga sätt kommunicerar information till koristerna genom sitt gestiska språk utifrån hur koristerna fördelar sin uppmärksamhet och tolkar positioneringen av dirigentens händer. Studien utredde även om och i så fall hur uppmärksamhetsfördelningen och tolkningen av en dirigents gestik skiljer sig mellan korister med varierande körerfarenhet och musikalisk utbildning. Dirigering är ett uråldrigt icke-verbalt kommunikationssätt och tidigare forskning visar att vi människor speglar varandras kroppsspråk, den så kallade kameleonteffekten. Tillsammans med vetskap om hur sångarens röstapparat fungerar ges en övergripande bild av vilken information koristen behöver från dirigenten för att sången ska nå önskat resultat. Studien genomfördes genom experiment på fyra körgrupper med skilda erfarenheter av körsång samt utbildningsnivå i musik, där ett antal övningar konstruerades för att kunna analysera hur sångarna fördelade sin uppmärksamhet mellan dirigentens händer, ansikte och det egna lyssnandet. Som komplement till experimentet genomfördes även en intervju med en erfaren professionell kördirigent. Resultatet visade att det fanns både likheter och skillnader i försöksgruppernas tolkning av gestiken. Enklare gester som tydligt ger psykologiska associationer till kända känslor eller beteenden, såsom att lyfta något tungt, tolkades intuitivt på likvärdigt sätt av samtliga sångare, medan mer köridiomatiska gester såsom att placera en konsonant på ett synkoperat slag skiljde sig mellan grupperna. Detta innebär inte att mindre erfarna sångare med nödvändighet inte kan avläsa eller förstå vissa gester. Skillnaderna mellan gruppernas tolkning av gestiken berodde sannolikt i hög utsträckning på andra faktorer, såsom att det i repetitionssammanhang kan ta längre tid för den oerfarne koristen att lära sig läsa noterna, hitta rätt i röst och andning och intonera rent. Detta gör att denne inte har lika mycket utrymme att koncentrera sig på dirigentens gestik jämfört med en korist som tränat upp körsjungandets elementa till automatik. / The purpose of the study was to examine and evaluate how the conductor most efficiently communicates information to the choristers through gestural language based on how the choristers distribute their attention and interpret the position of the conductor’s hands. The study also investigated if and how the distribution of attention and interpretation of a conductor’s gesticulation differs between choristers with different levels of experience in choral singing and musical education. Conducting is an ancient non-verbal mode of communication, and previous research shows that people mirror each other’s body language, the so-called chameleon effect. Coupled with knowledge of the function of the singers’ vocal apparatus, an overall picture of what information the choristers need from the conductor in order for the music to achieve the desired result is provided. The study was conducted through experiments on four choir groups with different levels of experience in choral singing and musical education, where a number of exercises were constructed to analyze how the singers distributed their attention between the conductor's hands, face and their own listening. To complement the experiment, an interview with an experienced professional choir conductor was made. The results showed both similarities and differences in the experimental groups' interpretation of gestures. Simpler gestures that clearly gives psychological associations of known emotions or behaviors, such as lifting something heavy, were intuitively interpreted in a similar way by all singers, while more choreographic gestures such as placing a consonant on a syncopated beat differed between the groups. This does not necessarily mean that less experienced singers are unable to read or understand certain gestures. The differences between the groups' interpretation of gestures were probably largely due to other factors, such as the fact that in a rehearsal context it may take longer for the inexperienced chorister to decipher the notes, find the right voice and breathing and intonate just. This means that they have less opportunity to concentrate on the conductor's gestures, in comparison with a chorister who has trained the basic elements of choral singing to automaticity. / <p>Information om examenskonserten</p><p>Repertoar:</p><p>Lux Aeterna (Rebecka Ryd)</p><p>I detta vita, outsagda (text Cecilia Lindemalm, musik Rebecka Ryd)</p><p>Hör på mig, ni fjärran länder (text Jesaja 49:1-2, musik Rebecka Ryd)</p><p>Visa vid vindens ängar (text och musik Mats Paulson, arr Rebecka Ryd)</p><p>Den blida vår är inne (text J O Wallin, A Frostenson, arr Rebecka Ryd)</p><p></p><p>Medverkande:</p><p>Rebecka Ryds Diskantensemble</p><p>Dante Fritzell, flöjt</p><p>Lisa Herlitz, oboe</p><p>Patricia Träff, klarinett</p><p>Zacharias Frato, horn</p><p>Fritz Fembro, fagott</p><p>Rebecka Ryd, dirigent och kompositör</p>

Organic coatings are widely used to lower the corrosion rate of metallic structures. However, penetration of water, oxygen and corrosive ions through pores present in the coating results in corrosion initiation and propagation once these species reach the metal substrate. Considering the need for systems that offer active protection with self-healing functionality, composite coatings containing polyaniline (PANI) conducting polymer are proposed in this study. In the first phase of my work, PANI was synthesized by various methods and characterized. The rapid mixing synthesis method was chosen for the rest of this study, providing PANI with high electrical conductivity, molecular structure of emeraldine salt, and morphology of spherical nanoparticles. PANIs doped with phosphoric and methane sulfonic acid revealed hydrophilic nature, and I showed that by incorporating a long-chain alkylphosphonic acid a hydrophobic PANI could be prepared. The second phase of my project was dedicated to making homogenous dispersions of PANI in a UV-curable resin based on polyester acrylate (PEA). Interfacial energy studies revealed the highest affinity of PEA to PANI doped with phosphoric acid (PANI-PA), and no attractive or long-range repulsive forces were measured between the PANI-PA surfaces in PEA.This is ideal for making conductive composites as, along withno aggregation tendency, the PANI-PA particles might come close enough to form an electrically connected network. Highly stable PEA/PANI-PA dispersions were prepared by pretreatment of PANI-PA in acetone followed by mixing in PEA in small portions under pearl-milling. The third phase of my project dealt with kinetics of the free radical polymerization that was utilized to cure the PEA/PANI-PA mixture. UV-vis absorption studies suggested a maximum allowed PANI-PA content of around 4 wt.% in order not to affect the UV curing behavior in the UV-C region. Real-time FTIR spectroscopy studies, using a laboratory UV source, revealed longer initial retardation of the photocuring and lower rates of crosslinking reactions for dispersions containing PANI-PA of higher than 3 wt.%. The presence of PANI-PA also made the formulations more sensitive to changes in UV light intensity and oxygen inhibition during UV curing. Nevertheless, curing of the dispersions with high PANI-PA content, of up to 10 wt.%, was demonstrated to be possible at either low UV light intensities provided the oxygen replenishment into the system was prevented, or by increasing the UV light intensity to very high levels. In the last phase of my project, the PEA and PEA/PANI-PA coatings, cured under high intensity UV lamps, were characterized. SEM analysis showed small PANI-PA particles to be closely packed within the matrix, and the electrical conductivity of the composite films was measured to be in the range of semiconductors. This suggested the presence of a connected network of PANI-PA, as confirmed by investigations of mechanical and electrical variations at the nanoscale by PeakForce TUNA AFM. The data revealed the presence of a PEA-rich layer at the composite-air interface, and a much higher population of the conductive network within the polymer matrix. High current signal was correlated with a high elastic modulus, consistent with the level measured for PANI-PA, and current-voltage studies on the conductive network showed non-Ohmic characteristics. Finally, the long-term protective property of the coatings was characterized by OCP and impedance measurements. Short-term barrier-type corrosion protection provided by the insulating PEA coating was turned into a long-term and active protection by addition of as little as 1 wt.% PANI-PA. A large and stable ennoblement was induced by the coatings containing PANI-PA of up to 3 wt.%. Higher content of PANI-PA led to poorer protection, probably due to the hydrophilicity of PANI-PA facilitating water transport in the coating and the presence of potentially weaker spots in the film. An iron oxide layer was found to fully cover the metal surface beneath the coatings containing PANI-PA after final failure observed by electrochemical testing. / <p>QC 20141103</p>

Master of Music / Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Frank C. Tracz / The following report is a detailed analysis on the following three pieces: Suite in B-flat by Richard Strauss for woodwind chamber ensemble, Two Pieces from Lieutenant Kije by Sergei Prokofiev for brass and percussion ensemble, and a finally Down a Country Lane by Aaron Copland for concert band. The goal of the analysis is to provide rehearsal information for educational purposes. Aspects of the compositions studied include: background information on the composer and composition, a historical perspective, technical and stylistic considerations, and the musical elements. The researchers perspective on philosophy of music education is also stated as well as the importance of choosing quality literature for pedagogical needs and performance. The goal of this report is to aid future conductors in their performances of the literature and for that reason the seating charts for the ensembles, acoustical justifications, as well as rehearsal plans have been included.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / This document was submitted to the Graduate School of Kansas State University as a partial requirement for the Master’s of Music Education degree. It contains the historical, theoretical, performance, and rehearsal consideration, for each of the three pieces that were performed on the Graduate Student Conducting Recital on Wednesday, March 12, 2010. Selections performed on the recital included in the document’s analysis portion include First Suite in E Flat by Gustav Holst, Japanese Overture by Ney Rosauro, and Inferno by Daniel Bukvich. The analysis format for this report is based on the Blocker/Miles Unit Study technique found in the Teaching Music through Performance in Band series, as well as the Tracz concept of macro-micro score analysis. The performances of the Kansas State University Wind Ensemble served as the basis for the technical, musical, and stylistic evaluations and analysis.

Described herein are three projects centered on the synthesis of conducting polymer derivatives for various applications. The first is the novel synthesis of 9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole [F8BT] oligomers through solid phase synthesis for the study of the thermodynamics and kinetics of electron transfer in the polymer. The second endeavor involves the synthesis of a series of 4”,3’’’-dialkyl-2,2’:5’,2”:5”,2’’’:5’’’,2’’’’:5’’’’,2’’’’’-sexithiophenes for the studies on crystal packing and surface deposition of organic p-type semiconducting materials. Lastly is described the development of a conducting metallopolymer based on the ligand 2,6-Bis(4-(2,2’-bithiophen-5-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine for use in a drug delivery system. / text