The focus of the present research is to examine the socio-pedagogical aspects of Adolphus Hailstork's Five Short Choral Works. The socio-pedagogical benefits of these and similar compositions stem from their potential to encourage more critical cultural engagement of the choral contributions of Black composers in both the classroom and rehearsal hall. While the music on its own merit is worthy of deeper study and analysis, the added benefit to students, teachers and conductors is that the inclusion of diverse groups in music education has proven sociological benefits. Therefore, these five works have potential benefits in terms of representation, cultural engagement, and holistic consideration of American music. Furthermore, if students are given more diverse expressions of diversity, then there is greater likelihood that they will grow socially to appreciate and understand heterogeneous expressions of culture and be more engaged in culture criticism.

This thesis consists of a large composition for chamber orchestra titled Brown Eyes, Black Magic and an accompanying analytical paper. The piece, approximately twelve minutes long, is a tribute to women of color in America. The title pays homage to the “Black Girl Magic” campaign that CaShawn Thompson founded in 2013 to empower women of color by highlighting their achievements in different fields (Wilson 2016). Although the piece is not programmatic, I tried to create a mysterious sound world, in which the listener focuses on the beauty of ever-shifting sonic colors. The composition explores musical texture and timbre, and is influenced by the works of Orlando Jacinto Garcia, Georg Friederich Haas, Krzysztof Penderecki, Arnold Schoenberg, and Anton Webern.

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