Overwhelming evidence supports the fact that music instruction greatly increases academic achievement on standardized test scores at the elementary, middle and high school level. When school districts face budget deficits, typically they alleviate the shortfall by eliminating music programs. Currently in Dallas ISD, teacher salaries are affected by how well a student performs on the STAAR exam. In this quantitative, causal-comparative study, 5th grade music STAAR mathematics scores are investigated to discover if instrumental music instruction using the Little Kids Rock Modern Band method improves academic achievement on the STAAR exam.

abstract: In My Dreams is a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, narrator, and piano, based on the poetry of survivors of childhood sex trafficking. It was created to raise awareness of trafficking through music and poetry through the expression of individual dreams and voices. In My Dreams recounts the devastating loss of childhood and celebrates empowering words of survival. The poetry was collected in poetry workshops held in Calcutta and Delhi India in January 2009. After the poems were selected, translated, and edited, composer Dr. Gerard Yun set them to music. This document outlines the process of creating and performing this unique humanitarian cycle. It also includes the full score, poetry, and composer's notes. Topics discussed include: experiences in finding and collecting poetry; collaboration with the composer, Dr. Gerard Yun; form and structure of the cycle; how each piece was molded to give voice to its inspired poem. Every song is analyzed from both a musical and performance perspective to give an account of the challenges and triumphs of the work and the process of undertaking it, as well as a better understanding of the background leading to its composition. / Dissertation/Thesis / Prologue / My Special Place / In My Dreams / Sometimes in the Night / I Thought I Wore the Watch Last Night / It's 2pm / I Can Hear Them / Create Another Earth for Me / In My Dreams II / Postlude / D.M.A. Music 2010

abstract: The purpose of this project was to commission, perform, and discuss a new work for an instrument pairing not often utilized, oboe and percussion. The composer, Alyssa Morris, was selected in June 2009. Her work, titled Forecast, was completed in October of 2009 and premiered in February of 2010, as part of a program showcasing music for oboe and percussion. Included in this document is a detailed biography of the composer, a description of the four movements of Forecast, performance notes for each movement, a diagram for stage set-up, the full score, the program from the premiere performance with biographies of all the performers involved, and both a live recording and MIDI sound file. The performance notes discuss issues that arose during preparation for the premiere and should help avoid potential pitfalls. TrevCo Music, publisher of the work, graciously allowed inclusion of the full score. This score is solely for use in this document; please visit the publisher's website for purchasing information. The commission and documentation of this composition are intended to add to the repertoire for oboe in an unusual instrument pairing and to encourage further exploration of such combinations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Forecast - Mvt 1: Clouds Descending (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 2: Rain Dance (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 3: Whirlwind (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 4: Tempest and Resolution (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 1: Clouds Descending (MIDI) / Forecast - Mvt 2: Rain Dance (MIDI) / Forecast - Mvt 3: Whirlwind (MIDI) / Forecast - Mvt 4: Tempest and Resolution (MIDI) / D.M.A. Music 2011

abstract: Yannis Constantinidis was the last of the handful of composers referred to collectively as the Greek National School. The members of this group strove to create a distinctive national style for Greece, founded upon a synthesis of Western compositional idioms with melodic, rhyhmic, and modal features of their local folk traditions. Constantinidis particularly looked to the folk melodies of his native Asia Minor and the nearby Dodecanese Islands. His musical output includes operettas, musical comedies, orchestral works, chamber and vocal music, and much piano music, all of which draws upon folk repertories for thematic material. The present essay examines how he incorporates this thematic material in his piano compositions, written between 1943 and 1971, with a special focus on the 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese. In general, Constantinidis's pianistic style is expressed through miniature pieces in which the folk tunes are presented mostly intact, but embedded in accompaniment based in early twentieth-century modal harmony. Following the dictates of the founding members of the Greek National School, Manolis Kalomiris and Georgios Lambelet, the modal basis of his harmonic vocabulary is firmly rooted in the characteristics of the most common modes of Greek folk music. A close study of his 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese not only offers a valuable insight into his harmonic imagination, but also demonstrates how he subtly adapts his source melodies. This work also reveals his care in creating a musical expression of the words of the original folk songs, even in purely instrumental compositon. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2011

The mental and physical health issues faced by musicians are multifaceted and generally poorly understood by most musicians, teachers and medical professionals. This monograph will provide students, educators, and institutions with a model to implement a proactive physical and mental health plan. If followed this should ensure a more positive and supportive environment for student musicians. Not only will this help students during their studies, but it will also equip them with resilience as they pursue their careers. Effectively incorporating health education and support within our education system will also benefit this generation of musicians, and every subsequent one. This will lead to a healthier environment within the music profession.In an ideal world, every music school would have a specialized team of health professionals to help address the issues faced by students, including Music Performance Anxiety and its comorbidities, such as anxiety and depression, along with Performance-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders. These common problems, many of which are inextricably linked to their chosen profession, are often dealt with poorly or ignored completely. As musicians, we study our instruments with specialists, at centers of excellence, doing research into the schools we apply for to get the best fit and highest level of education possible. The same priority should be given to our physical and mental health. Specialized treatment is available to musicians often at a prohibitive cost, creating barriers for many students. By introducing personalized care for music students within educational institutions, these resources become available to everyone who needs them. / Music Performance

Undergraduate cellists from diverse pedagogical backgrounds with various levels of technical proficiency often struggle to adapt to the demanding performance standards of the university environment. Frequently, these challenges are caused by technical concepts that have been incorrectly learned or unaddressed in the cellist's previous educational experience. Designed for university cello professors and undergraduate cello students, this study is a remedial and enhancement technical method for developing efficient performance habits; it presents a synthesis of cello performing ideologies, comprehensive technical analysis, physical conformation solutions, original sequential exercises, practice models, and recommendations for supporting literature. The method provides a structured path to expressive mastery and artistic freedom in performing advanced cello repertoire.

In the late 19th century, Georg Schumann (1866-1952) composed an attractive sonata for the cello that remains largely unknown today. By presenting a performer's analysis, this dissertation aims to position Georg Schumann's Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 19 (1898) amongst other more commonly performed sonatas of the era. This paper provides a detailed analysis of each movement of the sonata, an overview of the history and development of the cello sonata and an overview of Georg Schumann's biography leading up to the composition of his cello sonata.

Antonio María Valencia (1902-1952) was one of the leading Colombian composers, pianists, and educators of his generation. His Dúo en forma de sonata (1926) for violin and piano serves as an early example of the composer's aesthetic. According to the programmatic description he sent to his mother, the Dúo depicts Valencia's "indelible impressions" of his homeland. Through structural and harmonic analysis, I examine the piece in relation to the composer's informal programmatic description. The analysis argues that the work poetically re-creates the landscape of Valencia's birthplace region through an international language, devoid of Colombian folk rhythms and melodies. Valencia proposes a different perspective on Colombian music as an alternative to the use of folk-based music elements that were predominant to Colombian music during his lifetime.

This dissertation considers Gervais-François Couperin (1759-1826) and his offertories, providing a performance guide relevant to French organ literature of the beginning of the nineteenth century. To fulfill this purpose, the research is divided into five chapters and a conclusion. Chapter 1 is an introduction explaining the purpose of the research and significance of the research. Chapter 2 presents the Couperin Dynasty and their lineage at Saint-Gervais, as well as the evolution of the musical market in the middle of the eighteenth century in Paris, which influenced Gervais-François Couperin's Offertories. Chapter 3 to Chapter 6 present the performance guide to playing Gervais-François Couperin's offertories: Chapter 3 focuses on the significant development of the French organ building in the 1800s and the registration of Grand-Jeu. Chapter 4 deals with the addition of the pedal, and Chapter 5 focuses on embellishment using tremendo (tremolo) and arpegio (arpeggio). Lastly, Chapter 6 offers a guide for adding manual indications where the score did not include them or in places where ambiguities remained. Synthesizing these elements, a newly edited full score of Gervais-François Couperin's Offertory in G Minor is provided in Chapter 7 to exemplify this dissertation's conclusion.

John Mayer (1929-2004) was a British Indian composer and violinist. Despite his contributions to bringing Indian music to the West and his large output of works, the majority of his compositions remain largely unknown. This document focuses on Mayer's only oboe concerto, Shanai Awaz, which translates to "Sound of the Shanai" in Hindi. It is representative of his fusion of Indian and Western techniques. The performance guide helps the oboist navigate the fusion elements of the piece. Because no piano reduction of the score was made by the composer, the piece has likely not been performed since 1983. A piano reduction of the score was created as part of this dissertation to make it more accessible to oboists.