Pit musicians have fallen through the cracks of musical theater scholarship. In all my research, I have yet to come across any sources that thoroughly examine musical theater from the perspective of the musicians who perform in its orchestras day in and day out. Thus, this thesis documents Richard (Dick) R. Smith's life as a professional musician living and working--in vaudeville and on Broadway--in midcentury New York City. Smith might be relatively unknown, but he played a significant role in a variety of musical contexts. By understanding his life, we gain valuable insight into histories that have only focused on the experiences and achievements of actors, bandleaders, composers, orchestrators, and conductors, among others. Examining Smith's experiences also help us understand something about the hundreds, if not thousands, of similarly anonymous pit musicians whose talents and hard work made New York City's vibrant musical life possible.

abstract: In the early-twentieth-century United States, Jewish and European immigrant scholars, musicians, and composers dominated the academic, orchestral, film and popular music scenes. While some of these musicians immigrated voluntarily, others, having fled the genocide of the Holocaust, were forced into exile due to religious and political persecution. Musicians were often targeted by the Nazi regime for performing and advancing banned music, composing modernist works, or for their religious or political beliefs. The United States upheld strict, pre-World War Two immigration quotas and laws that limited relocation. Specialized rescue agencies arose to help these exiles settle in the United States. Meanwhile in 1924, American composer Mark Brunswick (1902-1971) moved to Europe and later studied with Nadia Boulanger. He found his niche among members of the Second Viennese School. Brunswick returned to the United States in 1938 and founded the National Committee for Refugee Musicians (NCRM), originally called the Placement Committee for German and Austrian Musicians, to aid in the relocation and job placement of at-risk musicians and their families during World War Two. This thesis briefly explores Brunswick’s life, and then more closely addresses the formation of the NCRM, its members, those who received aid, and partnering organizations. Finally, cases in point illustrate the varied ways in which the NCRM helped musicians in exile. Brunswick and the Committee played a major role in American musical history, yet no major studies have focused on them. With the NCRM’s assistance, many refugees thrived in and contributed to America’s musical landscape. By exploring letters, memoranda, and other unpublished archival documents, I will show how Brunswick and the NCRM affected U.S. musical life beginning in the 1930s. The positive effects of this germinal group endure today. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2015

It is known that musicians are exposed to potentially harmful sound levels during the course of regular practice, rehearsal, and performance. As a result, these individuals may have an increased risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Previous research has shown that in typical daily practice, musicians can exceed daily recommended exposure limits (O'Brien et al., 2013). This research suggests that classical musicians are at high risk for NIHL according to t he National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ( US Department of Health and Human Services, 1998) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines . In addition, distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) amplitude shifts have been found to be a sensitive measure for impact of high noise levels on inner-ear function (Lonsbury-Martin et al., 1990). The very livelihoods of musicians could depend on the development of NIHL awareness and prevention strategies. This study reports the sound-level exposures that University of Arizona music students experience in two hours of solitary practice and whether any correlative change in DPOAE amplitude occurred. Utilizing noise dosimetry, measurements of average sound levels and equivalent exposure for an eight-hour period were taken and compared to NIOSH and OSHA guidelines. Changes in inner-ear function were measured by DPOAE amplitudes taken immediately before and after each practice session. The goal of this research is to present data regarding sound-level exposure and address any significance in the correlative relationship between practice-session exposure levels and any shift in outer hair-cell function as determined by pre- and post-practice DPOAE evaluation.

Musicians comprise a unique population whereby persistent musical practice involving complex cognitive and motor tasks dates back to childhood when the potential for neural plasticity is at its highest. Accordingly, it has been speculated that musical training results in neural structural and functional differences between musicians and non-musicians. In particular, there is evidence to indicate parietal regions are more equally lateralized in musicians, but research investigating visuospatial abilities and lateralization in musicians is scarce. Studies 1 and 2 aimed to assess the visuospatial ability and cognitive processing speed of adult musicians versus ‪demographically and educationally matched non-musicians. ‪Musicians performed more quickly and more accurately than non-musicians in two tasks of visuospatial ability, and completed more items than non-musicians in three tasks of processing speed, suggesting ‪musicians had better ‪visuospatial ability and a faster speed of processing. Studies 3 and 4 aimed to investigate ‪visuospatial attention in ‪these groups using a line-bisection task and a visual discrimination task. On both tasks musicians demonstrated more balanced visuospatial attention with a slight bias to the right hemispace, which was in contrast to the non-musicians’ bias to the left hemispace, a natural phenomenon known as ‘right pseudoneglect’. In Study 5, the laterality of visual processing in musicians and non-musicians was further investigated by comparing electrophysiological interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) of lateralized visual stimuli across the corpus callosum. Non-musicians had faster right-to-left than left-to-right IHTT consistent with previous research, whilst musicians had more balanced IHTT in both directions and faster left-to-right transfer than non-musicians. Absolute latency patterns revealed similar results and consistently demonstrated more balanced visual processing in musicians. The behavioural data, analysed in Study 6, revealed a tendency (n.s.) for the ‪musician group to respond more quickly to stimuli presented in the right visual field than to stimuli presented in the left visual field, whilst ‪non-musicians did not show this pattern. Overall, the results indicate that musicians have enhanced visuospatial ability and are less lateralized for visuospatial attention and perception than non-musicians. The results are discussed in relation to plastic developmental changes that may be caused by extended musical training from childhood. Specifically, it is proposed that musical training in early life may elicit a process of myelination that is more bilaterally distributed than myelination in non-musicians.

Musicians comprise a unique population whereby persistent musical practice involving complex cognitive and motor tasks dates back to childhood when the potential for neural plasticity is at its highest. Accordingly, it has been speculated that musical training results in neural structural and functional differences between musicians and non-musicians. In particular, there is evidence to indicate parietal regions are more equally lateralized in musicians, but research investigating visuospatial abilities and lateralization in musicians is scarce. Studies 1 and 2 aimed to assess the visuospatial ability and cognitive processing speed of adult musicians versus ‪demographically and educationally matched non-musicians. ‪Musicians performed more quickly and more accurately than non-musicians in two tasks of visuospatial ability, and completed more items than non-musicians in three tasks of processing speed, suggesting ‪musicians had better ‪visuospatial ability and a faster speed of processing. Studies 3 and 4 aimed to investigate ‪visuospatial attention in ‪these groups using a line-bisection task and a visual discrimination task. On both tasks musicians demonstrated more balanced visuospatial attention with a slight bias to the right hemispace, which was in contrast to the non-musicians’ bias to the left hemispace, a natural phenomenon known as ‘right pseudoneglect’. In Study 5, the laterality of visual processing in musicians and non-musicians was further investigated by comparing electrophysiological interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) of lateralized visual stimuli across the corpus callosum. Non-musicians had faster right-to-left than left-to-right IHTT consistent with previous research, whilst musicians had more balanced IHTT in both directions and faster left-to-right transfer than non-musicians. Absolute latency patterns revealed similar results and consistently demonstrated more balanced visual processing in musicians. The behavioural data, analysed in Study 6, revealed a tendency (n.s.) for the ‪musician group to respond more quickly to stimuli presented in the right visual field than to stimuli presented in the left visual field, whilst ‪non-musicians did not show this pattern. Overall, the results indicate that musicians have enhanced visuospatial ability and are less lateralized for visuospatial attention and perception than non-musicians. The results are discussed in relation to plastic developmental changes that may be caused by extended musical training from childhood. Specifically, it is proposed that musical training in early life may elicit a process of myelination that is more bilaterally distributed than myelination in non-musicians.

Musicians comprise a unique population whereby persistent musical practice involving complex cognitive and motor tasks dates back to childhood when the potential for neural plasticity is at its highest. Accordingly, it has been speculated that musical training results in neural structural and functional differences between musicians and non-musicians. In particular, there is evidence to indicate parietal regions are more equally lateralized in musicians, but research investigating visuospatial abilities and lateralization in musicians is scarce. Studies 1 and 2 aimed to assess the visuospatial ability and cognitive processing speed of adult musicians versus ‪demographically and educationally matched non-musicians. ‪Musicians performed more quickly and more accurately than non-musicians in two tasks of visuospatial ability, and completed more items than non-musicians in three tasks of processing speed, suggesting ‪musicians had better ‪visuospatial ability and a faster speed of processing. Studies 3 and 4 aimed to investigate ‪visuospatial attention in ‪these groups using a line-bisection task and a visual discrimination task. On both tasks musicians demonstrated more balanced visuospatial attention with a slight bias to the right hemispace, which was in contrast to the non-musicians’ bias to the left hemispace, a natural phenomenon known as ‘right pseudoneglect’. In Study 5, the laterality of visual processing in musicians and non-musicians was further investigated by comparing electrophysiological interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) of lateralized visual stimuli across the corpus callosum. Non-musicians had faster right-to-left than left-to-right IHTT consistent with previous research, whilst musicians had more balanced IHTT in both directions and faster left-to-right transfer than non-musicians. Absolute latency patterns revealed similar results and consistently demonstrated more balanced visual processing in musicians. The behavioural data, analysed in Study 6, revealed a tendency (n.s.) for the ‪musician group to respond more quickly to stimuli presented in the right visual field than to stimuli presented in the left visual field, whilst ‪non-musicians did not show this pattern. Overall, the results indicate that musicians have enhanced visuospatial ability and are less lateralized for visuospatial attention and perception than non-musicians. The results are discussed in relation to plastic developmental changes that may be caused by extended musical training from childhood. Specifically, it is proposed that musical training in early life may elicit a process of myelination that is more bilaterally distributed than myelination in non-musicians.

Musicians comprise a unique population whereby persistent musical practice involving complex cognitive and motor tasks dates back to childhood when the potential for neural plasticity is at its highest. Accordingly, it has been speculated that musical training results in neural structural and functional differences between musicians and non-musicians. In particular, there is evidence to indicate parietal regions are more equally lateralized in musicians, but research investigating visuospatial abilities and lateralization in musicians is scarce. Studies 1 and 2 aimed to assess the visuospatial ability and cognitive processing speed of adult musicians versus ‪demographically and educationally matched non-musicians. ‪Musicians performed more quickly and more accurately than non-musicians in two tasks of visuospatial ability, and completed more items than non-musicians in three tasks of processing speed, suggesting ‪musicians had better ‪visuospatial ability and a faster speed of processing. Studies 3 and 4 aimed to investigate ‪visuospatial attention in ‪these groups using a line-bisection task and a visual discrimination task. On both tasks musicians demonstrated more balanced visuospatial attention with a slight bias to the right hemispace, which was in contrast to the non-musicians’ bias to the left hemispace, a natural phenomenon known as ‘right pseudoneglect’. In Study 5, the laterality of visual processing in musicians and non-musicians was further investigated by comparing electrophysiological interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) of lateralized visual stimuli across the corpus callosum. Non-musicians had faster right-to-left than left-to-right IHTT consistent with previous research, whilst musicians had more balanced IHTT in both directions and faster left-to-right transfer than non-musicians. Absolute latency patterns revealed similar results and consistently demonstrated more balanced visual processing in musicians. The behavioural data, analysed in Study 6, revealed a tendency (n.s.) for the ‪musician group to respond more quickly to stimuli presented in the right visual field than to stimuli presented in the left visual field, whilst ‪non-musicians did not show this pattern. Overall, the results indicate that musicians have enhanced visuospatial ability and are less lateralized for visuospatial attention and perception than non-musicians. The results are discussed in relation to plastic developmental changes that may be caused by extended musical training from childhood. Specifically, it is proposed that musical training in early life may elicit a process of myelination that is more bilaterally distributed than myelination in non-musicians.

Musicians comprise a unique population whereby persistent musical practice involving complex cognitive and motor tasks dates back to childhood when the potential for neural plasticity is at its highest. Accordingly, it has been speculated that musical training results in neural structural and functional differences between musicians and non-musicians. In particular, there is evidence to indicate parietal regions are more equally lateralized in musicians, but research investigating visuospatial abilities and lateralization in musicians is scarce. Studies 1 and 2 aimed to assess the visuospatial ability and cognitive processing speed of adult musicians versus ‪demographically and educationally matched non-musicians. ‪Musicians performed more quickly and more accurately than non-musicians in two tasks of visuospatial ability, and completed more items than non-musicians in three tasks of processing speed, suggesting ‪musicians had better ‪visuospatial ability and a faster speed of processing. Studies 3 and 4 aimed to investigate ‪visuospatial attention in ‪these groups using a line-bisection task and a visual discrimination task. On both tasks musicians demonstrated more balanced visuospatial attention with a slight bias to the right hemispace, which was in contrast to the non-musicians’ bias to the left hemispace, a natural phenomenon known as ‘right pseudoneglect’. In Study 5, the laterality of visual processing in musicians and non-musicians was further investigated by comparing electrophysiological interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) of lateralized visual stimuli across the corpus callosum. Non-musicians had faster right-to-left than left-to-right IHTT consistent with previous research, whilst musicians had more balanced IHTT in both directions and faster left-to-right transfer than non-musicians. Absolute latency patterns revealed similar results and consistently demonstrated more balanced visual processing in musicians. The behavioural data, analysed in Study 6, revealed a tendency (n.s.) for the ‪musician group to respond more quickly to stimuli presented in the right visual field than to stimuli presented in the left visual field, whilst ‪non-musicians did not show this pattern. Overall, the results indicate that musicians have enhanced visuospatial ability and are less lateralized for visuospatial attention and perception than non-musicians. The results are discussed in relation to plastic developmental changes that may be caused by extended musical training from childhood. Specifically, it is proposed that musical training in early life may elicit a process of myelination that is more bilaterally distributed than myelination in non-musicians.

Cognition, the topic of this dissertation, is a music market arcade for Gallo Records that will act as a platform for aspiring South African musicians. The concept of the musician and the status of the musician in society varies from culture to culture. Thus the topic will explore the social implications music has on different cultures by addressing diversion in a social context. Music will therefore act as generator by merging culture and creating an awareness and common ground by acting as the universal medium. In doing so,the musician will indirectly compose a South African identity by means of public performance. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / Praktiese ondervinding van die onderrig van Musiek op skoolvlak het getoon dat Musiekteoretiese vakke en Gehoorontwikkeling nie voldoende gestrukrureerd en gebaseer op wetenskaplik gefundeerde onderrigmetodes aangebied word nie. 'n Gebrek aan integrasie tussen Gehoorontwikkeling en die Musiekteoretiese vakke word vermoed. Innerlike gehoor is noodsaaklik is vir die musikus, maar bly grootliks onderontwikkel Hierdie studie konsentreer op die integrasie wat nodig is tussen die Musiekteoretiese vakke en Gehoorontwikkeling, en toets empiries die mening van musiekstudente by wyse van 'n vraelys en dié van musiekdosente by wyse onderhoude. Die ondersoek spreek die algemene metodes aan waardeur die betrokke vakke onderrig word, asook die probleme wat daarmee gepaard gaan. Die musiekstudent se mening omtrent sy tersiêre musiekopleiding word gevra. Daar is bevind dat die twee dissiplines nie doelmatig geïntegreerd aangebied word nie en voorstelle om die situasie te verbeter, word gemaak ..