<p> This thesis examines the seven song and/or choral settings of Sappho&rsquo;s poetry by contemporary women composers Carol Barnett, Sheila Silver, Elizabeth Vercoe, Liza Lim, Augusta Read Thomas, Mary Ellen Childs, and Patricia Van Ness. Each composer has set Sappho&rsquo;s poems in her own creative and artistic interpretation through diverse modern musical styles, giving the Greek poetess a modern, gendered female voice. This paper presents connections between the poetry chosen, its themes and interpretations, as well as the expressive musical devices employed. The various methodological approaches include historical and textual criticism, sociomusicology, and gender and sexual studies. The setting of Sappho&rsquo;s poetry and the commonalities of the poetic themes set to music help us understand how modern women view Sappho&rsquo;s image, hear, and give voice to the poetess of the ancient world. </p>

<p> This dissertation is an ethnography of trans identity and North American music and explores the ways musicking makes viable underrepresented forms of embodiment. The subjects of this ethnomusicological study&mdash;Jennifer Leitham, Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, Transcendence Gospel Choir, and Joe Stevens&mdash;are contemporary musicians who are trans identified. Contemplating the multiple facets of identity embodied by these individuals and groups, I consider relationships among their subjectivities, identities, bodies and behaviors, and interactions with others, and how those relationships are explored, affirmed, celebrated, judged, contested, and valued (or not) through their music and musical performances. An ethnomusicological approach allows the performances and narratives of these artists to show multiple levels and intersections of identity in relation to gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, religion, age, and disability. The dissertation draws from interviews, performances, and onsite fieldwork in and around Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area between 2009 and 2016. Ethnographic data include interviews with artists and audience members as well as live performances, rehearsals, recordings, videos, and social networks. Jennifer Leitham challenges an association of gender and sexual identity in jazz while simultaneously finding it a difficult category of music to navigate when her trans identity is foregrounded. For some of the vocalists in the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles and the Transcendence Gospel Choir of San Francisco subjectivity, identity, and embodiment are connected to ideas about voices, bodies, and behaviors and these attributes are highly variable. For example, whether singers are attempting to extend their range, grapple with the effects of androgen hormones, or both, their voices, like all singers&rsquo; voices, are in process. Joe Stevens&rsquo;s musical life presents us with particular ways in which trans subjects harness musical genre in order to perform trans identities. Genre, voice, embodiment, and transition all contribute to the ways in which masculinity and vulnerability frame Joe&rsquo;s identity, and they are juxtaposed with his female gender assignment at birth. The project ultimately concludes that sharing musical performances of trans identity requires a thinking through of bodies and behaviors, where gender identity as multiplicitous, varied, and diverse, is always in relation, contention, or collusion with socio-political and cultural forces that control those bodies and behaviors. Musicking provides a strategic arena where trans subjectivities and identities flourish.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative, multi-case study examined trans and non-binary singers in the applied voice studio. The purpose of this study was to explore (1) the impact of music participation on the identities of trans and non-binary singers, (2) the experiences of trans and non-binary singers taking private singing lessons, and (3) the strategies and practices of their voice teachers. Purposeful sampling of four singers included two trans men and two non-binary individuals. Four teachers with prior experience in teaching trans or non-binary singers included two teachers identifying as trans men, and two cisgender (one female, one male) teachers. Data were collected through interviews and lesson observations, presented through portraiture analysis to provide an insider&rsquo;s view of the experiences, perspectives, and practices of the participants. Findings and implications emerged through cross-case analyses. </p><p> The results indicate that gender impacts musical spaces. While participation in musical activities created an outlet for some singers to explore their trans or non-binary identity, the reification of the gender binary in musical spaces was oppressive for others. Students modeled high self-efficacy by showing perceived competence to change discriminatory policies and practices in music and the performing arts. </p><p> Teachers demonstrated emotional support in the applied studio by being cognizant of student needs. While the training of each student looked distinct, teachers affirmed students through student-centered pedagogical approaches, allowing students to guide their vocal training and development. Teachers discussed the need for adept understanding of vocal technique in training trans and non-binary singers. All four trans men (two students and two teachers) discussed their voice modification through testosterone replacement therapy. The two non-binary singers, not engaged in medical voice modulation, discussed changes in their voices through singing lessons. </p><p> The research posits that curricular development in vocal pedagogy courses is needed to educate singing teachers on cultural competency and trans and non-binary vocality. This study revealed the need to examine applied teacher readiness in educating trans and non-binary singing. Research on the longitudinal effects of testosterone on the voice is warranted. Additional scholarship is needed in working with trans or non-binary voices not engaging in hormone replacement therapy.</p><p>