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<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of auditory-motor mapping training (AMMT) on the speech output of nonverbal elementary age students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Auditory-motor mapping training facilitates the development of association between sounds and articulatory actions using intonation and bimanual drumming activities. This intervention purportedly stimulates neural networks that may be dysfunctional in persons with ASD. </p><p> Seven nonverbal children with a primary diagnosis of ASD participated in twelve 20-minute weekly sessions consisting of engagement with 15 predetermined target words through imitation, singing, and motor activity (all components of AMMT). Assessments were made at baseline, mid-point, and post AMMT intervention sessions. These probes were used to determine the effects of AMMT on expressive language abilities of speech output. A null hypothesis was tested to determine the significance of the independent variables of singing, showing visual cues, and drumming on the speech output of nonverbal children with ASD, age five through eight years (<i>p</i> &le; .05). Additionally, effects of AMMT on children's development of social communication skills also were examined at the end of each intervention session. </p><p> Results of the study revealed no significant effect of the AMMT intervention on the speech output of elementary age children with ASD from the best baseline to probe one and probe two (<i>p</i> = .424), therefore the null hypothesis that there was no significant effect of auditory-motor mapping training (AMMT) on speech output of nonverbal elementary children with ASD was retained. Additionally, a comparison of the growth of the independent &lsquo;High Five&rsquo; gesture from session one to session twelve yielded no statistical significant results (<i>p</i> > .05). The McNemar chi-square was used to compare this secondary AMMT effect from sessions two to eleven, and revealed a positive growth trend that approached a significant outcome associated with the children's social communication responses (<i> p</i> =.063).</p><p> Although significant changes in the nonverbal children's speech output were not substantiated in this study, there were areas of growth for all children in this study that were highlighted through qualitative analysis and descriptive narratives. Confounding variables that possibly affected children's speech output and social communication development were addressed. Additionally, recommendations were made for future research involving music as a vehicle for speech development for nonverbal elementary age children with ASD.</p>

<p> Expression is a prized aspect of performance, yet it goes largely un-conceptualized and sometimes partially pursued in amateur choral endeavor. This study seeks to understand what constitutes live choral performance expression, and how it materializes. The study adopted a qualitative, phenomenological research strategy to investigate the lived experience of performers. Data were collected in individual interviews with eight conductors, focus groups with 60 choristers, and rehearsal and performance observations of seven choirs. </p><p> The findings suggest that performance is meaningful to performers and audience for reasons that are not solely musical. Thus, expression is not conceptualized as solely musical. Performers regard choral music as having inherent expressive content, but for some, reification of a work is only part of performance expression. Aural beauty is cherished, but expression is not experienced exclusively auditorily. </p><p> By &ldquo;contagion,&rdquo; performers seek to communicate affectively with their audience. To this end, some employ visual presentation to embody the expressive character perceived in musical and textual features of a work. The conceptualization of performance expression as comprising aural and visual modalities aligns with the known integration of acoustic and optic percepts in human communication of emotions, and with the relative impact of gesture, tone, and word meaning on the perceiver. </p><p> Rehearsal processes for expression and the integration of vocal technique with expression are problematic, and the efficacy of performing from memory or with the score is ambiguous. Choristers consider conductor micro-corrections at the expense of macro-overview an impediment to expression, but constructivist self-learning with video feedback is found effective. Developing expression through movement, backstory, and imagery is helpful, but acting as authentic portrayal of feeling is ambivalent. Inter-ensemble musical and social synergies influence expression, especially its visual presentation. </p><p> The study concludes that choral performance expression is for performer and audience, entity and process; personal and communal; artifact-derived and performer-created; phenomenal and noumenal; physiologically perceived and emotionally construed. Amateur choirs achieve expressive performance when they engage musical, textual, and visual presentation as inter-linked modalities; engage inclusionary leadership and chorister-centered learning; and integrate musical-social synergies as components of expression.</p>

<p> The Johann Christian Bach Viola Concerto in C minor plays a significant role in the student viola repertoire. The research presented is intended to serve as a resource to teachers who are preparing viola students for the study and performance of this work. First, historical context is given and the mysterious origin of the concerto is stated and explored. Second, the skills required before approaching the piece are outlined in addition to the benefits of the study of this work. Through this project report, students and teachers will gain a better understanding of the J.C. Bach/Casadesus Viola Concerto and why it is a vital piece in the viola repertoire.</p>

<p> Mariachi programs have gained interest and acceptance among music educators in most regions of the United States. Successful mariachi programs are energizing students and creating positive relationships between the schools and their communities. Mariachi programs are growing as more students identify and connect with this Mexican folkloric music. An example of a flourishing mariachi program can be found in the Las Vegas Clark County School District, which has seen its program grow from 250 students to over 3,000 since 2002. Considering that the Hispanic population is expected to reach about 106 million in 2050, about double what it is today, the potential for mariachi instruction in public schools will likely follow these growing population trends. However, due to the highly stylized idiomatic music that is mariachi, music educators not familiar with its innate teachings might hinder the art form at a pedagogical level. This research paper explores three current approaches to mariachi pedagogy in U.S. public education: informal, formal, and a hybrid approach between the two aesthetics. The hybrid approach will be the basis of rehearsal practice in preparing for &ldquo;Se&ntilde;or Trompetas&rdquo; in my graduate recital to test its efficacy to teaching authentic mariachi music.</p>

<p> This study investigated the ways in which early middle to mid-career high school band directors (minimum of five years of experience in the field) operationalize their values for music education through the many musical experiences, artistic opportunities, and educational curricular goals for their students. This study sought to investigate deeper than the operationalization of high school band director values to investigate the values themselves and their inspiration as principally drawn by participating music educators. Participants described that their current set of values for their high school band programs are forged through a variety of influences, most notably music educator identity, and the influences, inspiration, and experience imprint made during their high school and collegiate music career. Other external factors that determine the values of a high school band director are influences of collegiate and high school music educators, and socialization within the undergraduate cohort. </p><p> Data analysis found that music educator values undergo an evolution throughout the career in the classroom, especially as the music educator becomes more certain of his own system of values and music educator personhood; and distances oneself from previous exemplar teachers whose influences cast a long shadow early in one&rsquo;s career. This study found that the values of high school band directors are established and conflict against the realities and expectations of school administration, community influences, and the norms and expectations of expected common curricular practices for high school bands in a particular region. This study found that high school band director values are under strain from internalized pressures by the band directors themselves, as well as pressures that stem from the need to have one&rsquo;s work accepted by colleagues. </p><p> This study employed qualitative methodology centered by interviews of 13 research participants. The interview methodology employed was informed by the research methods of Kvale (2007), who espouses that the participant&rsquo;s everyday world should be the focus of the researcher. Elements of case study methodology were also employed to determine emergent themes, as well as compare participant responses and high school band programs across the cohort of participants. </p>

<p> Much of the operatic music of the eccentric French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is overlooked, especially from his first full opera <i>Benvenuto Cellini.</i> This is due in part to many misconceptions surrounding Berlioz&rsquo;s vocal compositional style, which stem from the political atmosphere at the time of the opera&rsquo;s premiere in 1838 Paris when ill-willed critics renamed it <i>Malvenuto Cellini.</i> A general ignorance of this work and its music pervades the world of vocal pedagogy, having been excluded from the standard repertoire anthologies, where it can ironically be the most useful. The research presented in this project comprises original data from pedagogical and aesthetical surveys, as well as analytical comparisons of numerous arias and scenes.</p><p> The pedagogical surveys demonstrate that the work is mostly discounted or unknown among nationally respected pedagogues, who almost never assign any of these arias or scenes to their students. Yet, the aesthetical surveys show an appreciation of the music from an unbiased populous. Additionally, a study of the international production history of this opera, including cost and revenue statistics, supports the perpetuated trend of undeserved negativity towards <i>Benvenuto Cellini</i> when these supposed deterrents do not inhibit productions of other highly expensive or lesser-known operas. A microcosmic analysis of audition data furthers the idea that the world of vocal pedagogy is married to a canon of arias, which leaves little room for repertoire diversity or experimentation for voice students and creates an educational gap in their lack of exposure to this music. As pedagogical tools, respected voice professors almost universally use specific styles of arias and scenes from different eras and cultures to teach their students technical, musical, and dramatic stage concepts. In the case of nineteenth-century French Romanticism, the diverse music from <i>Benvenuto Cellini</i> fulfills these needs and also incorporates Italianate influences, while simultaneously serving as a reference point for succeeding Germanic declamatory style. It encapsulates Romantic thought and factors into the plethora of works that feature the life of Renaissance Mannerist sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571). Comparative analyses of arias and scenes from Berlioz&rsquo;s opera to the works of other composers included in the standard repertory, such as Mozart, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Donizetti, and Verdi, elucidate the equivalent quality and invaluable importance of this music.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01