<p> The <i>khrueangsai pii chawaa</i> ("Thai stringed instruments with Javanese oboe") ensemble in central Thailand is a unique and highly-regarded ensemble known for its repertoire, idiosyncratic tuning, high level of technical difficulty, and exceptionable virtuosity. <i>Khrueangsai pii chawaa</i> is reserved for very special royal functions including processions and dramatic performances of royal literature. Royal authority indirectly controls the performance and transmission of the ensemble and its repertoire, which is now maintained professionally only by the Fine Arts Department of the Thai government. At present only a few musicians are capable of performing or teaching the repertoire and performance style for this ensemble. The selection of new students is competitive and politicized. The <i>khrueangsai pii chawaa </i> ensemble is rare and kept largely outside of the gaze of ordinary spectators in Thai society. Nonetheless, a few individuals in institutions outside of Bangkok have tried to build <i>khrueangsai pii chawaa</i> ensembles, challenging the limits of authority and exposing tensions within the musical community. I argue that royal authority functions to keep this musical ensemble endangered by design, so that those chosen to participate maintain a powerful control over the tradition and repertoire and thereby preserve their unique social status.</p>

<p> Ghanaian choral music emerged from the colonial experience through a process of musical hybridity and became relevant in the post-independent state of Ghana. This dissertation begins by exploring how two distinct musical forms developed from within the Methodist and Presbyterian missions in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These musical forms utilized both European hymn harmony and local musical features. The institutional histories and structures of these missions explain the significance of this hybridity and distinct characteristics of the forms. These local-language choral works spread through these institutions despite the attempts of people in leadership positions to keep local culture separate from Christian schools and churches. The fourth chapter explores the broader social impact of the choral tradition that emerged from the Presbyterian mission, and its implications for the national independence movement through the history of one choral work composed by 1929 by Ephraim Amu. Then, based on a case study of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and its workplace choir, I examine how intellectual leaders such as Kwabena Nketia have, in the context of the post-independent state of Ghana, promoted choral music as an aspect of national development and unity. Ethnographic work at the GBC reveals the sometimes contentious negotiations that are involved in this process. This dissertation is based on both ethnographic and archival research conducted during three research trips to Ghana from 2012 to 2015. This research reveals how Ghanaians have challenged colonial ideology through composing and performing choral music. Peircian semiotics and postcolonial theory provides a framework for exploring how the hybridity of choral music in Ghana has contributed to the development of postcolonial consciousness there.</p>

<p> Composer Howard Hanson played a pivotal role in both the development and promotion of American concert music in the twentieth century. Born in Wahoo, Nebraska, to Swedish immigrants, Hanson grew up surrounded by people who followed Swedish customs (including folk song and dance), yet exhibited strong feelings of American patriotism. Hanson's earliest works, left unpublished, display the influence of Swedish folk music traditions in either direct quotation or stylistic imitation. </p><p> As the winner of the first American Prix de Rome, Hanson traveled to Italy to study at the American Academy, affording him the opportunity to travel for the first time to Sweden. While in Europe Hanson wrote some of his most important compositions, including the Scandinavian-inspired First Symphony ("Nordic") and the symphonic poem <i>North and West.</i> The former pulls heavily from Swedish folk music, and the latter is autobiographical, representative of the composer's identity struggles as he explored the role his heritage should play in what he increasingly realized was Americanist music. </p><p> After he assumed the directorship of the Eastman School of Music, a position he held for forty years, Hanson's music lost explicit programmatic elements inspired by Scandinavia. Hanson wrote hundreds of articles and speeches about the importance of furthering American music, became a community leader in Rochester and on a national level, and transformed Eastman into a vital center for the promotion of American composers. His affinity for Swedish music continued to be an important factor in his compositional process, as evidenced by his Third Symphony and the popular comparison of his music to that of Jan Sibelius. Despite this association Hanson is remembered as a transformative figure in American music.</p>

<p> Music scholarship has failed to fully assess the impact of the American composer George Frederick Root beyond his work in the church, classroom, and home. Most famous for composing "The Battle Cry of Freedom" and acting as music education pioneer Lowell Mason's associate, Root's other contributions to American music are often overlooked, particularly his body of secular cantatas for amateur choirs. This paper examines the commonly relayed biography of Root, Root's place in American historiography, and the advantages of examining his own autobiography. Finally, this paper presents a case study of <i> The Haymakers</i> and its possible place in future studies of Root. By better examining his career, we see that George Frederick Root was a typical nineteenth-century American man and that he was also a composer notable for his ability to serve the musical needs of his audience. Root pioneered large-scale choral works targeted at amateur performers with his secular cantatas and, consequently, served a wider swath of American performers and listeners.</p>

<p> The six piano suites of R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) constitute a substantial body of piano music that illustrates the musical development of an important, but historically neglected American musician. Dett was a seminal figure in the preservation and study of spirituals, both as a writer and choral leader, and as a great teacher and inspirer of African-American musicians in the generations that followed him. Educated at Oberlin and Eastman, he was lauded as the first American composer to fuse Negro folk music with European art music tradition. </p><p> The writing of a series of like-genre works over a composer's lifetime, reflecting stylistic changes and a deepening world view, is a special event in the history of keyboard music. Unfortunately, Dett's piano music is rarely performed except for the second of the suites, <i>In the Bottoms</i>. Although his importance to African-American musical history is generally acknowledged by musicologists, his works for piano have remained largely unexplored by performers. </p><p> Dett's eclectic pursuits included poetry, the Rosicrucian Society, and religion. This study explores the connections between the suites and other musical styles and traditions, Dett's many extra-musical interests, and his performing life. It also offers some possible explanations for the relative lack of attention received by his piano music. </p><p> This study incorporates research from readily-available sources, as well as the Nathaniel Dett archives at the Niagara Falls New York Public Library and Hampton University. The first three chapters give an overview of Dett's style and influences, as well as a description of how his musical language developed from his first suite, <i>Magnolia</i> (1912), to his last, <i> Eight Bible Vignettes</i> (1941-43), written at the end of his life. Each suite is examined individually in detail in the following six chapters. It is hoped that this work will stimulate appreciation of Dett's piano music and lead to more frequent performances. Its goal is to give to the reader the same sense of admiration and joy that the author's exploration of these works has given him.</p>

<p> This thesis investigates what Black undergraduate women understand and take away from Hip-Hop music. Highlighting their matrix of domination and recognizing their intersecting identities, this thesis shows how identity and music work together in the listening experience of Black women, thus emphasizing how they invest this music with social value. The following questions are answered in this research: What does Hip-Hop mean to Black female students at an elite university? How do these Black female students experience and perceive Hip-Hop music? A basic interpretive design with focus groups was used to execute this study. Three focus groups consisting of six to seven participants per group, totaling 19 participants, were conducted. Findings included that the background of each participant influenced what Hip-Hop means to them. Overall, Hip-Hop music was valued by participants and listened to for many reasons of sociological relevance, including its influence of political consciousness and colorism. Future studies should explore the how different demographic groups experience and perceive Hip-Hop, including how diverse educational backgrounds may influence perception.</p>

<p> When Robert Spano joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as music director in 2001, he brought with him a mission to change the soundscape of the American concert hall. His goal, to gradually change the public&rsquo;s perception of new music by introducing accessible works of lesser-known living American composers, led to sustained partnerships with the composers that came to be known as the Atlanta School. In this project I trace the formation of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra up to Spano&rsquo;s appointment as Music Director. I then examine Spano&rsquo;s model for commissioning new works as both an effective means of disseminating new music and an attempt to &ldquo;plug into&rdquo; the standard repertoire. Finally, I explore the notion of &ldquo;accessibility&rdquo; as it emerged in the nineteenth century to distinguish between classes of music and to show how the term is wielded in much the same way today to keep modernist ideologies in control of the canon.</p>

<p> With the success of the <i>O Brother, Where Art Thou?</i> soundtrack, T Bone Burnett spent his cultural capital on repurposing traditional American music in subsequently successful soundtracks and artistic productions, providing a spark for a 21st century cultural movement that moves beyond music. This study aims to position Burnett has a cultural catalyst by grounding his work, and those abiding by a similar ethic, in the American South. In the process, I examine what Burnett&rsquo;s soundtracks and select artistic productions communicate about contemporary Southern cultures and identities, while negotiating the ever-enigmatic generational issues of identity and authenticity. By extending the analysis to artists, producers, and cultural tastemakers who operate by a similar ethic as Burnett as well, I also address the characteristics of and spark igniting the preservationist, heritage movement in contemporary roots music, and how this music community contributes to ongoing conversations regarding contemporary Southern identity? The purpose of my study is to explore these connections, the culture in which they reside, and most specifically the role T Bone Burnett plays in a contemporary cultural movement which seeks to (re)present a traditional American music ethos in distinctly Southern terms. Furthermore, I will set the movement within the contemporary context in which such sounds, symbols, and narratives reside. Within this study, I read films, songs, soundtracks, albums, fashion, and performances, each loaded with symbols, archetypes, and themes that illuminate intersection past and present issues of identity. By weaving ethnographic interviews (with musicians, producers, and other cultural tastemakers) with cultural analysis, I investigate how relevant cultural issues are being negotiated, how complicated discussions of history, tradition, and heritage feed the ethic, and how the American South as a perceived distinct region factors in to the equation.</p>

<p> This document examines the musical performance practices of the Igbo Jews of Abjua, Nigeria. Amongst the 50 million Igbo, an estimated 5,000 are currently practicing Judaism. Despite prior research conducted by Daniel Lis (2015), William Miles (2013), Shai Afsai (2013), Edith Bruder (2012), and Tudor Parfitt (2013), there is little to no discussion of the role of music in this community. This study of the musical practices of the Igbo Jews of Nigeria reveals that the Igbo combine traditional Nigerian practice with modern Jewish and Christian elements. This combination of practices has led to the development of new traditions in an effort to maintain a shared sense of individualized Jewish identity and unity in a time of persecution and violence towards the Igbo from terrorist organizations. This study demonstrates that the Igbo Jews view the creation of this new music as serving to rejuvenate their Jewish identity while preserving Igbo traditions. The analysis draws upon theories of Eric Hobsbawm, Philip Bohlman and Alejandro Madrid to explain Igbo practice. Data includes material gathered from fieldwork conducted in the summer of 2014 in Abuja and in the cities of Kubwa and Jikwoyi. My observations focused on the musical properties of the Shabbat prayers and <i>zmirot </i> (para-liturgical table songs). While the Igbo are often considered one of &ldquo;the lost tribes of Israel,&rdquo; my research indicates that &ldquo;lost&rdquo; is not so &ldquo;lost&rdquo; as previously believed.</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>