Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank Tracz / The following report contains the research and analysis of three musical compositions prepared for effective rehearsal and performance for the Graduate Conducting Recital. The repertoire selected includes Hats Off to Thee by John Zdechlik, performed by the Kansas State University Brass Ensemble on April 18th, 2012; Mercury Rising by Nathan Daughtrey, performed by the Kansas State University Percussion Ensemble on April 3rd, 2012 and Suite Française by Darius Milhaud, performed by the Kansas State University Concert Band on April 25th, 2012 all under the direction of Sarah Bernard-Stevens. The report comprises extensive research and theoretical analysis compiled to effectively rehearse and conduct the above-mentioned works.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Julie Yu / John Dewey once said, “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” I believe this to be true even in the choral classroom. This paper discusses my philosophy of music education along with ways to incorporate technology into a choral music classroom through the use of web-based resources. As with any educational discipline, technology must be used in the right context to be the most effective. It must be filled with activities, instruction, and guided practice that can pass through the filter of your own philosophy of education and disseminated throughout the Nation Standards in Arts Education.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Julie Yu-Oppenheim / Teaching a large performing ensemble class, such as choir, can make it difficult to keep a record of each student’s individual progress. This report will discuss my philosophy of music education along with ways to incorporate technology into student assessment. Technology can most benefit the educational process when it is easy and efficient. Through personal experience, incorporating technology into student assessment can be done in the four different methods explored in this report. These four methods are: integrating practice file submissions through a virtual interface; using Google Docs Surveys for self-reflection; incorporating audio or video recording students for sight-reading tests; and using YouTube for students to post videos for final projects. Each has the potential to both strengthen and organize the way student assessment is completed.

Master of Music / School of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Julie Yu / This document examines five choral octavos for a themed choral concert. The McPherson High School Concert Choir will present a themed choral concert, “War and Peace”, which includes these five octavos, on October 14, 2013 at 7:30pm. The selections reflect the program theme and include historical and theoretical analysis. Along with the analysis, this document also contains rehearsal plans and examines common practices of selecting and preparing literature for a themed choral concert. The choral octavos examined are: The Sword of Bunker Hill arranged by Matthew Armstrong, Lift Up Your Heads arranged by Hal H. Hopson, Down By The Riverside arranged by Rosephanye Powell, Tell My Father arranged by Andrea Ramsey, and Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho arranged by Mark Hayes.

Master of Music / Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Reginald L. Pittman / The songs presented in this report are works I performed in my Master’s Recital on March 30, 2014. This report will take an in-depth analysis at the selected composers’ life and styles of writing and the works they created. The scores studied in this report include: “Thus saith the Lord: But who may abide” from George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, “Soave sia il vento” from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Cosí fan Tutte, “Liebesbotschaft,” “Ihr Bild,” and “Das Fischermädchen” from Franz Schubert’s Schwanengesang, Vincenzo Bellini’s “Vaga luna che inargenti,” Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il Poveretto,” Gaetano Donizetti’s “Che vuoi di più,” Reynaldo Hahn’s “Á Chloris,” “Si mes vers avaient des ailes,” and “L’Heure Exquise” from Chanson grises, and “Ships of Arcady,” “Beloved,” “A Blackbird Singing,” and “Nocturne” from Michael Head’s Over the Rim of the Moon.

Master of Music / School of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Patricia Thompson / This Master’s Report is in the form of extended program notes on works performed on a graduate recital for a mezzo-soprano. The notes include biographical information, and a literary and historical exploration of the piece selected, to discuss the overall theme of the feminine character as she appears in contrasting works. Translations of the texts are included in the body of the text. The pieces discussed are Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Bilitis, Rossini’s “Cruda Sorte!...Già so per practica” from L’Italiana in Algeri, selections from Wolf’s Spaniches Liederbuch, Massenet’s “Va! Laisse couler mes larmes” from Werther, Lori Laitman’s Daughters, Handel’s “In gentle murmurs will I mourn” from Jephtha, and Granados’s La maja dolorosa No. 1, 2, and 3. The graduate recital was given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Music degree in vocal performance on March 29th, 2015 performed in All Faiths Chapel at Kansas State University. It featured the piano talents of Amanda Arrington, with the aid of Jillian Emerson on cello, Janice McGregor on violin, and Christopher Gugel on flute.

Master of Arts / Department of Speech Communication, Theatre, and Dance / Timothy R. Steffensmeier / On August 17, 1959 a jazz album entitled Kind of Blue hit record store shelves nationwide and changed the music forever. Recorded by the Miles Davis Sextet, the album popularly introduced a new sound, modal jazz, and has become one of the best selling jazz records of all time. A week after the release, following a concert promoting the album at the Birdland in New York, Davis was walking a white female friend to a taxi when he was stopped by a policeman. The officer told Davis to move along, and the two exchanged a few words and looks before the cop clubbed Davis over the head and arrested him. Davis was released shortly, but this incident is illustrative of a time in history where African-American music was embraced while the people themselves were treated as second-class citizens. This study explores rhetorical connections between jazz music and American democracy as it existed during the late 1950s. Using Sellnow & Sellnow's (2001) 'Illusion of Life' Rhetorical Perspective, this study analyzes the music of Kind of Blue as it connects with the political upheaval of the Civil Rights Movement. It concludes that the incongruity between the political and social tension of the country and the relatively laid-back sound of the music correlates with the non-violent resistance strategies used in the Movement. Implications are drawn about Sellnow & Sellnow's (2001) methodology, jazz music's potential in promoting/maintaining an inclusive democracy, and areas for future study.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Amy Rosine / This report consists of extended program notes for a master’s vocal recital for soprano, given by Mai Shibahara on April 20, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in All Faiths Chapel Auditorium on the Kansas State University campus. Included on the recital were works by Franz Lachner, Vincenzo Bellini, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Giacomo Puccini, and Dominick Argento. The program notes include biographical information about the composers and a textual and musical analysis of their works, which were performed on this recital. / Seit ich in gesehen by Franz Lachner; Vaga luna che inargenti, Per pietà, bell̕idol mio, Ma rendi pur contento by Vincenzo Bellini; Oh!quand je dors, S'il est un charmant gazon by Franz Liszt; Die Mainacht, Wir wandelten, Wie Melodien zieht es mir by Johannes Brahms; "O soave fanciulla" from La Bohème, "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from La Rondine by Giacomo Puccini; Six Elizabethan songs by Dominick Argento.

Master of Music / Department of Music / Kelvin T. Kerstetter / This study provides a stylistic and structural analysis of Brahms's Trio for Piano, Clarinet, and Cello Op. 114, Francaix's Tema con Variazioni (1974), Muczynski's Time Pieces (1984), Carter's Gra, for solo clarinet (1993), and Hiyoku, for two clarinets (2001). One chapter is devoted to each piece. The composer's biographical information is presented, in addition to harmonic and structural analyses of each piece. Performance considerations and a stylistic guide are documented to aid in the performance of these works. Other vital information such as date of completion, premiere, dedication or commission information, and publication information are presented.

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 in Music Degree. This document includes the historical, theoretical, performance, and rehearsal consideration of the works performed in the corresponding graduate recital. These works are Antonin Dvořák’s Serenade in D Minor, Op. 44 and Vincent Persichetti’s Symphony Number Six for Band. 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 Symphony Band and a chamber ensemble which consisted of faculty and Symphony Band members served as the basis for the technical, musical, and stylistic evaluations and analysis.