<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of projected film visuals on singers' expressivity in choral performance. The study was divided into three phases. In Phase One, university choir singers (<i>N</i> = 21) viewed eight audiovisual pairings (two film excerpts and four choral etudes) and rated these pairings according to perceived music to film congruency. Based on these ratings, two choral etudes were identified that elicited the broadest congruency contrasts when paired with the film segments.</p><p> In Phase Two, a different group of university choir singers (<i> N</i> = 116) rehearsed and prepared both of the selected choral etudes referred to as "Doh" and "Noo." Subsequently, these singers were organized into smaller chamber ensembles (<i>n</i> = 11), and performed each choral etude three times under the following conditions: (1) while viewing congruent film, (2) while viewing incongruent film, and (3) with no film projected. After each performance, singers reported their level of self-expression. At the completion of all three performances, singers reported their preferred performance condition. Finally, participants listened to their audio-recorded performances and rated these for performance expressivity and personal preference. During Phase Three, choral experts (<i>N</i> = 8) rated performance expressivity and reported personal preference for each audio-recorded performance. </p><p> A two-way ANOVA with repeated measures found significant main effects of both etude and film visual performance condition on participants' expressivity ratings (<i>p</i> &lt; .001). Additionally, a significant etude x film visual performance condition interaction was discovered (<i>p </i> = .001). Participants rated self-expression significantly higher when singing with a congruent film compared with other conditions for both etudes (<i>p</i> &lt; .001). Chi-square tests found most preferred experiences during congruent performances, and least preferred experiences during incongruent performances for both etudes (<i>p</i> &lt; .001). Expressivity ratings for audio-recorded performances indicated significantly higher expressivity ratings for the performances influenced by the congruent film visual of etude "Doh" (<i>p</i> &lt; .05), while no significant differences were found for etude "Noo" (<i>p</i> > .05). Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to filmmaking techniques, music education curriculum, choral rehearsal pedagogy, and composition/performance practice, with recommendations for future research.</p>

<p> This collaborative inquiry case study investigated a pre-existing peer learning group composed of five Korean college voice students and a non-musician facilitator. The group was chosen for this research to understand the implications of a diversified learning context in addition to the typical master-apprenticeship context of higher music education. The main activity for this peer learning group was researching literature related to classical vocal music along with presenting a performance project. This performance was in connection to their learning, and the chosen theme was a musical autobiography. Data were collected during the performance project process that included participant observations, interviews, and artifacts. The peer group's learning experiences and how this process influenced their behaviors, attitudes, and performance, and the role of the facilitator were content analyzed and reported. Results revealed that the students' intense meaning making process included mutual communication, cooperative interaction, enhanced motivation with group cohesion, and a sense of autonomy in their music learning. The autobiographic aspects of each member's life as a musician proved to be transformative in their learning and positively influenced their identity development as musicians. Careful intervention regarding individual differences was found to be an important consideration. The role of the non-musician facilitator aided group development with a contrasting perspective, allowing for positive support to the individuals, and suggestions for long-term goals regarding pedagogical aspects despite his lack of a music background. Challenges of the peer learning group included a lack of available learning resources, time intensiveness of the process, and a lack of continuity with few consistent acknowledged goals. </p><p> This study illuminated the need to reflect on diverse learning contexts in addition to the traditional master-apprentice dyad in order to enhance students' initiatives in their learning process; allow for opportunities for the formation of their musical identities; and to encourage a facilitator role for the master teachers. Future research is recommended to replicate peer learning among diverse musicians and to focus further on autobiographic learning in addition to online learning opportunities. Continuous innovation in the learning process in higher music education will empower future musicians to be creative meaning makers and lifelong learners.</p>

<p> The current study was designed to examine the question of quality as it relates to school band music composed for the performance levels of Grade III and IV. This was accomplished across two concurrent studies. The purpose of the primary study was to: (a) compare state prescribed lists for common compositions, (b) to examine the opinions of expert middle school band directors regarding the quality of those common compositions (grades III &amp; IV), and (c) to identify a select pool of meritorious compositions. The purpose of the secondary study was to: (a) examine the opinions of prominent college band directors regarding the quality of the same list of literature evaluated by middle school band directors, and (b) to identify a select pool of meritorious compositions. The overall purpose of the combined surveys was to establish a select list of compositions known to both expert middle school and college band directors that are recognized for their meritorious quality and may be of use to educators of all levels. </p><p> Participants (<i>N</i> = 64) were expert middle school (<i> n</i> = 32) and college (<i>n</i> = 32) band directors who completed an online survey consisting of three sections: (a) Demographic Data, (b) Evaluation of Compositions, and (c) Suggested Compositions for Further Study. Analysis of responses found that all directors rated each of the 189 compositions and that a strong level of agreement of the rated level of quality was present within subjects. However, when compared, there was a statistically significant difference showing a wider range of quality ratings assigned by college band directors. Further analysis revealed a list of 32 compositions which were known by five or more evaluators and possessed a minimum of 79 percent of the total points each composition could receive. As before, analysis of responses found a strong level of agreement of the rated level of quality within subjects and a statistically significant difference in the ratings assigned by each group. This final list establishes a collection of wind band compositions which are among the finest grade III and IV compositions known by the expert panel of evaluators. Works on this list represent many, if not all, compositions which should be familiar to all conductors, instrumental music educators, and their students. </p><p> Compositions suggested for further study (<i>N</i> = 72) were self-identified by researchers as grade III or IV compositions that were not included as part of the present study. No attempt to state the quality of these works is made by the researcher and therefore should be investigated in future studies. Implications, additional findings, and suggestions for future research are discussed.</p>

<p> The orchestration techniques used in wind band transcriptions of <i>a cappella</i> choral works have received limited attention from researchers. The primary purposes of this study were to (1) examine orchestration techniques used in wind band transcriptions of <i>a cappella </i> choral works, (2) note differences between original <i>a cappella </i> choral works and their wind band transcriptions, and (3) provide rehearsal suggestions for band conductors based on information gathered from comparisons of repertoire. </p><p> The researcher reviewed nine wind band transcriptions of <i>a cappella </i> choral works, as well as one <i>a cappella</i> choral transcription of a wind band work. The results of the investigations indicated that (1) transcribers use combinations of orchestration techniques - (a) basic part assignments, (b) complex part assignments, (c) dividing sections of the band to represent two or more vocal parts, (d) octave displacements and doublings, (e) incorporation of percussion, and (f) special effects - in wind band transcriptions of <i>a cappella</i> choral works, (2) transcribers adjust musical aspects of <i>a cappella</i> choral works - (a) bar lines and meters, (b) repeats, (c) tempo, (d) key, (e) rhythms, rests, and breath marks, (f) dynamics, (g) articulation and style markings, and (h) form and structure - during the wind band transcription process, and (3) many rehearsal implications - (a) tempo, (b) tone quality and intonation, (c) articulation and style, (d) phrasing, (e) dynamics, and (f) balance and blend - are gained from comparing wind band transcriptions to original <i>a cappella</i> choral works. Further research in this area might explore the orchestration techniques used in wind band transcriptions of accompanied choral works, choral transcriptions of wind band works, and original choral compositions with wind band accompaniment. </p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to apply the instructional concept of <i>teaching to the test</i> in an instrumental music rehearsal and investigate its effects on student performance. Specifically, the study sought to determine the extent to which prior knowledge of evaluative criteria, and a lesson focused on a single criterion, might affect an ensemble's performance and ability to make transfers. One high school band produced audio recordings under several instructional conditions that utilized varying degrees of criterion-referenced instruction. Evaluators (<i>N</i> = 270) consisted of college music majors (<i>n</i> = 93) and in-service music educators (<i>n</i> = 177) who listened to the recordings before evaluating the ensemble's tone, intonation, technique, balance, and musicality on the Music Performance Assessment Scale (MPAS). Evaluators also assessed the ensemble's performance of march style on the Performance Style Evaluation Form (PSEF). Finally, self-evaluation ratings, provided by members of the performing ensemble, were compared to ratings received from other evaluators. </p><p> The results revealed no significant differences between the baseline recording, a recording made after the ensemble was shown the evaluative criteria used by judges, and a transfer task recording made 48 hours after the ensemble participated in a lesson focused on march style. However, the recording made immediately after the march style lesson was rated significantly higher than the baseline and transfer task recordings. The results also indicated that students in the performing ensemble rated their performance significantly higher on the MPAS than music majors and in-service music educators, but no significant difference was found between the students and other evaluators on the PSEF. The findings suggest that a criterion-referenced music lesson focused on a single criterion may be an effective method of improving student performance of that criterion. However, the implementation of a single lesson may not produce enduring results. Implications of these results, additional findings, and suggestions for future research are discussed.</p>

The compositional style of three chamber works for flute by Lowell Liebermann is explored through harmonic and formal analyses, an interview with the composer, Lowell Liebermann, and interviews with the flutists who commissioned the works, Paula Robison and Katherine Kemler. Liebermann's musical style, as represented in three chamber works, is explained as a continuation of Classical and Romantic traditions. Variants of the classic Sonata Allegro and Rondo forms are employed. Traditional techniques such as augmentation, diminution, retrograde and sequence are utilized. Contrast is provided by the composition of dramatically contrasting thematic material and frequent changes in texture. Works are tightly organized with cyclic material as well as thematic overlapping, fusion, and transformation. Tonally, Liebermann has combined functional harmony with polytonality. Although the tonal areas employed in these works are almost always closely related, each is usually combined with a second tonal region. For example, in the Sonata for Flute and Guitar, E major is usually superimposed on E minor. In the case of the Soliloquy, tonalities are combined to stress the important intervallic relationship of the tritone. The expressive abilities of the flute are drawn upon in Liebermann's approach to melody. The long, sustained lines of the lyrical sections are colored with a wide range of dynamics and therefore demand a high level of musical maturity from the performers. This is contrasted with fast, intensely rhythmical sections or movements which showcase technical virtuosity. All three works are well-constructed, sophisticated works of art, yet they are accessible to any audience. The Sonata for Flute and Piano and the Soliloquy for Flute Solo have already made their way into the standard flute repertoire. Liebermann has made a major contribution to the contemporary flute repertory.

This document examines the historical role and lineage of the current American concertmaster. Foundational discussions include the establishment of the concertmaster, the professional relationship with the conductor, and the evolution of the role into its present-day format. Interviews with contemporary concertmasters of major American orchestras form the basis for a detailed observation of the modern orchestral audition process, the basic responsibilities of a concertmaster, the leadership, pressures, and community expectations involved with the position, and the future of concertmaster education in America. Interviewed concertmasters are: Bill Preucil of the Cleveland Orchestra, Emmanuelle Boisvert of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony, Andres Cardenes of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Juliana Athayde of the Rochester Philharmonic, and Joseph Silverstein, the former concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Deux Etudes de Sonorite (1954) by the French Canadian composer Francois Morel represent one of the most studied and performed works within the literature for solo piano in Canada. This paper examines what it is about these works that is so appealing to pianists of such a broad range of age and experience. It includes an in depth examination of structural and textural characteristics of each Etude, and a discussion as to how Morel employs these techniques to enhance his desired aesthetic within each Etude. Furthermore, as these works are designated as study pieces, the paper also includes a discussion of the pedagogical applications of each Etude informed by perspectives from a host of Canada's leading piano performer/pedagogues.

This thesis discusses Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Symphony of Psalms, Symphony in C and Symphony in Three Movements which were composed throughout his neoclassical period. The discussion is focused on the compositional process--the way the composer builds the logical flow of musical materials. Based on the analysis of the technical details of works the composer himself rarely discussed, the process observed in these four symphonies illustrates a unifying method of organizing musical materials; it proves to be a typical Stravinskian construction of musical architecture; it demonstrates a logical development of music, which is comprehensible and easy to follow; it provides a concrete musical illustration which accounts for Stravinsky's structural esthetics.

This paper presents an original working manual for violinists, building on selected pedagogical principles from eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century violin treatises. The pedagogical method at the heart of this manual is the conceptualization of various techniques by means of mental models. The idea or image of "hanging" the fingers of the left hand from the strings of the instrument is one such model whose purpose is to ensure a relaxed and flexible left-hand technique. Through the exploration of earlier treatises---those of Francesco Geminiani (1751), Pierre Baillot (1835), and Ivan Galamian (1962)---this paper illustrates continuity in the development of violin technique from the eighteenth century to the present day. At the same time, there is a fundamental progression in violin pedagogy demonstrated by these treatises that informs the approach taken here: earlier treatises simply provide brief statements of what the violinist must do, whereas later treatises, Galamian's in particular, present more detailed descriptions of the physical actions of violin playing while also exploring the correlation between the mind and the muscles. Mental models are used throughout this manual to facilitate that correlation between the mind and muscles by suggesting easily graspable images that in turn effect a desired result in technique.