Lionel Daunais was an eminent and beloved 20th-century Québécois musician who contributed greatly to the performing arts in Canada. Through his work with the Trio Lyrique, Les Variétés Lyriques, and his numerous compositions, he wielded a potent sphere of influence on the Canadian musical landscape. Lionel Daunais's compositions constitute a significant oeuvre, comprising solo vocal works, song cycles, folksong arrangements, individual choral works, and multi-movement choral works. Marked by irresistible wit, the melodicism of French mélodie, and the absolute eminence of the text, Figures de danse is his most well-known multi-movement choral work. Daunais penned the earliest extant version of Figures de danse in 1947, however, the work emerged into Québec's choral scene in the mid-1970s via the establishment of the Alliance des Chorales du Québec. This set of tragicomic caricatures, which sets beautiful choral and piano writing to clever—and sometimes hilariously nonsensical—texts by Daunais himself, is accessible for performance by youth choirs, community choirs, university choirs, and professional choirs alike. Unfortunately, various factors (e.g. the separation of the choral and piano scores, local references, and score errors) often stymie its performance. The purpose of this dissertation is to ameliorate these challenges via a conductor's guide and to advocate for the performance of Daunais's chef-d'oeuvre.

This dissertation examines a recent work for flute and piano, Here Everything Shines, by a living composer, Charlotte Bray, including a study, analysis and performance guide. The composition was largely inspired by the late Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora and her song Petit Pays. My research explores the influence of Évora's song on Here Everything Shines, including the melodic development, tonal center, style and freedom of her singing and the impact the song has on a performer's interpretation of Here Everything Shines. The study examines the text of the song, the emotions evoked and reflects on the compositional elements in Here Everything Shines. Originally written for flute and guitar and commissioned by Tom Kerstens for International Guitar Foundation, Here Everything Shines was published in 2015. Bray transcribed it for violin and piano at request of Darragh Morgan and Mary Dullea and subsequently for flute and piano at my request. This dissertation compares the three versions for flute and guitar, violin and piano, and flute and piano and examines the variations between flute and violin as well as guitar and piano parts. The performance guide includes the composer's input on both interpretation and implementation of her ideas throughout the work.

Korean composer Young Jo Lee (b.1943) is considered a precursor of Korean fusion music. In his works, he interlaces elements of traditional Korean music with compositional styles and performances techniques from western musical traditions. This dissertation provides an analysis of Lee's Dodri for Cello and Janggo (1995), one of his most representative works of fusion music. As indicated by the title Dodri (which in Korean means a "movement back and forth"), Lee intended to showcase a friendly interplay of the janggo and the cello, with each instrument playing a leading role that helps bring out the essence of traditional Korean traditional music. In this piece, Lee writes a number of melodies and uses traditional Korean performance techniques for the cello intended to imitate the sound and sentiments of traditional Korean instruments, all while preserving its inherent nature. This kind of fusion, where different musical elements are merged with each other but remain separate enough to maintain their own uniqueness, is significant to Lee's philosophy. This dissertation also describes Lee's efforts to preserve the integrity of traditional Korean music within fusion music and lend new insights regarding traditional Korean musical practice to musicologists, composers, and audiences. Furthermore, this study is intended to serve as a performer's guide for professional cellists new to Lee's music so they may approach Dodri with a greater understanding of the composer's original intentions when first learning the work.

English, Italian, French, German, and Russian songs often appear in the repertoire of Western singers, but only a few singers try to sing Chinese songs. Chinese songs have a wealth of musical material uninterrupted for nearly 10,000 years. However, the lack of clear and correct International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) makes non-Chinese singers confused and unable to pronounce Chinese accurately. In this study, I have used the IPA that singers are familiar with to change the old version of Chinese IPA, which applied many phonetic transcriptions that are not included in the Western phonetic alphabet and even wrong phonetics. The new version Chinese IPA I created solves the problem of the old version. To demonstrate the practicality of this new IPA version, I have then used this revised IPA in six songs by Zaiyi Lu, who is one of the most outstanding contemporary Chinese composers. His vocal music works are among the finest works of contemporary Chinese art songs. I added Chinese pinyin to the song translation, given a performance guide to introduce the songs' background, IPA with word-by-word translation, poetic translation, singing skills, and emotional expression for both singers and pianists. This study developed a useful tool (new version of Chinese IPA) for western singers, introducing Chinese songs to singers worldwide, giving future scholars more ideas, allowing people to feel the charm of East Asian art, and enriching the repertoire.

David Baker (b. 1931) is an educator, composer, and jazz legend. He has composed at least fifteen works that include the clarinet. Baker’s Clarinet Sonata (1989) has become a standard of clarinet repertoire and a popular recital inclusion. His chamber work Heritage: A Tribute to Great Clarinetists (1996) interweaves solo transcriptions of five jazz clarinetists. The compositional style of Baker’s clarinet works frequently links jazz and classical idioms. The two works discussed in this document are excellent examples for classically trained musicians who would like to increase their ability and experience in interpreting jazz styles. The purpose of this document is: (1) to provide background, style, and performance considerations for Baker’s Clarinet Sonata and Heritage: A Tribute for Great Clarinetists, for Clarinet, Violin, Piano and Double Bass; (2) based on these style elements, to provide suggestions for interpreting jazz-style works for classically trained clarinetists; and (3) to archive Baker’s published and unpublished clarinet compositions. Appendices include transcripts of interviews with David Baker and other experts in this field (James Campbell, Rosana Eckert, Mike Steinel and Steven Harlos).