This research project was sparked by the observed patterns of participation in the schools choral eisteddfodau organised by the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE) and the Bosveld Kunstefees by schools in the Polokwane cluster of Circuits, Capricorn District of Limpopo Province - South Africa. The projected image of participation was that participation was divided along racial lines, whereby SASCE events were attended by blacks, found at township and rural schools, whereas former Model C schools attended the Bosveld Kunstefees eisteddfodau. The study intended to reveal whether the projected racial image was founded on racism itself, after 20 years the democratic dispensation, or whether other factors such as choral aptitude, preference of choral style, and/or cultural identity in a pluralistic society influenced such participation. Data were collected and qualitatively analysed by means of a structured questionnaire administered to school principals, choir masters/mistresses and secondary school choristers whose schools participated in either of the eisteddfodau between 2009 and 2011. Findings and recommendations are then offered for the research questions asked, following the analysis of collected data. / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Music / MMus / Unrestricted

An examination of the historical treatises of Manuel Garcia II and Giambattista Mancini, scientific studies pertaining to glottal closure, and Vocal Function Exercises used in clinical speech pathology led to an exploratory study that attempted to increase the glottal closure in an untrained university male chorus using only choral voice building exercises. The exploratory study used a single group, pre-test post-test design, and data was recorded using audio recordings of the entire chorus as well as electroglottograph measurements of individual subjects. The data show an increase in glottal closure as measured by closed quotient values, and an increase in energy in the upper partials of the recorded acoustic signal from the chorus.

No description available.

Este trabalho é fruto de uma pesquisa-ação associada às atividades de preparação vocal realizadas com o Coral Escola e o Coral Oficina do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral do Departamento de Música da ECA-USP. Os objetivos dividiram-se em duas perspectivas: a formação do estagiário em preparação vocal e o desenvolvimento da técnica vocal nos coros Escola e Oficina. A coleta de dados foi feita por meio da participação nos ensaios destes dois grupos no ano de 2010 e da análise do protocolo de documentação do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral. O capítulo 1 inicia-se com uma explanação sobre o funcionamento do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral e sobre o conceito de Coral Escola, no qual todas as atividades estão fundamentadas; segue com uma discussão a respeito dos desafios da educação coral no século XXI e encerra-se expondo saberes e habilidades que fazem parte da formação dos estagiários em preparação vocal, como a classificação vocal, a percepção vocal e a pedagogia. No capítulo 2, são descritas as principais características vocais dos coralistas iniciantes dos coros Escola e Oficina em relação a postura, respiração, apoio, ressonância, articulação, assim como as dificuldades mais frequentes com afinação. No capítulo 3, por meio de uma confrontação entre as práticas do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral e a literatura sobre regência coral e pedagogia vocal, são apresentados e discutidos os exercícios mais usados na preparação vocal destes grupos, visando trabalhar aspectos como postura, respiração e apoio, ressonância, diferenciação de vogais, agilidade, staccato, sustentação, homogeneidade de registros vocais, extensão e escuta harmônica. Nas considerações finais, discute-se a perspectiva da preparação vocal como uma atividade complexa, na qual diversos saberes, habilidades e ferramentas são empregados conjunta e interativamente como parte de estratégias que visam à consecução de objetivos artísticos e educativos. / This work is the result of an action research associated to voice building activities performed at the Coral Escola and the Coral Oficina of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory of the Music Department at ECA-USP. The goals were divided into two perspectives: the training of the trainee in voice building and the development of vocal technique in the choirs Escola and Oficina. Data collection was done through participation in the rehearsals of these two choirs in 2010 and analysis of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory\'s protocol documentation. Chapter 1 begins with an explanation about the functioning of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory and about the concept of Choir-School, in which all activities are based; it follows with a discussion about the challenges of choral education in the twenty-first century and it ends exposing knowledge and skills that are part of the training of trainees in voice building, such as vocal classification, vocal perception and pedagogy. Chapter 2 describes the main vocal characteristics of the beginners in the choirs Escola and Oficina regarding posture, breathing support, resonance, articulation, as well as the most frequent difficulties concerning intonation. By confronting the practices of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory and the literature on choral conducting and vocal pedagogy, Chapter 3 presents and discusses the most used exercises in the voice building activities of these groups, aiming to work aspects such as posture, breathing and support, resonance, vowel differentiation, agility, staccato, sostenuto,homogeneity of vocal registers, extension and harmonic hearing. In the final considerations, voice building is discussed as a complex activity, in which different knowledge, skills and tools are used together and interactively as part of strategies that aim the achievement of artistic and educational goals.

Este trabalho é fruto de uma pesquisa-ação associada às atividades de preparação vocal realizadas com o Coral Escola e o Coral Oficina do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral do Departamento de Música da ECA-USP. Os objetivos dividiram-se em duas perspectivas: a formação do estagiário em preparação vocal e o desenvolvimento da técnica vocal nos coros Escola e Oficina. A coleta de dados foi feita por meio da participação nos ensaios destes dois grupos no ano de 2010 e da análise do protocolo de documentação do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral. O capítulo 1 inicia-se com uma explanação sobre o funcionamento do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral e sobre o conceito de Coral Escola, no qual todas as atividades estão fundamentadas; segue com uma discussão a respeito dos desafios da educação coral no século XXI e encerra-se expondo saberes e habilidades que fazem parte da formação dos estagiários em preparação vocal, como a classificação vocal, a percepção vocal e a pedagogia. No capítulo 2, são descritas as principais características vocais dos coralistas iniciantes dos coros Escola e Oficina em relação a postura, respiração, apoio, ressonância, articulação, assim como as dificuldades mais frequentes com afinação. No capítulo 3, por meio de uma confrontação entre as práticas do Comunicantus: Laboratório Coral e a literatura sobre regência coral e pedagogia vocal, são apresentados e discutidos os exercícios mais usados na preparação vocal destes grupos, visando trabalhar aspectos como postura, respiração e apoio, ressonância, diferenciação de vogais, agilidade, staccato, sustentação, homogeneidade de registros vocais, extensão e escuta harmônica. Nas considerações finais, discute-se a perspectiva da preparação vocal como uma atividade complexa, na qual diversos saberes, habilidades e ferramentas são empregados conjunta e interativamente como parte de estratégias que visam à consecução de objetivos artísticos e educativos. / This work is the result of an action research associated to voice building activities performed at the Coral Escola and the Coral Oficina of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory of the Music Department at ECA-USP. The goals were divided into two perspectives: the training of the trainee in voice building and the development of vocal technique in the choirs Escola and Oficina. Data collection was done through participation in the rehearsals of these two choirs in 2010 and analysis of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory\'s protocol documentation. Chapter 1 begins with an explanation about the functioning of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory and about the concept of Choir-School, in which all activities are based; it follows with a discussion about the challenges of choral education in the twenty-first century and it ends exposing knowledge and skills that are part of the training of trainees in voice building, such as vocal classification, vocal perception and pedagogy. Chapter 2 describes the main vocal characteristics of the beginners in the choirs Escola and Oficina regarding posture, breathing support, resonance, articulation, as well as the most frequent difficulties concerning intonation. By confronting the practices of Comunicantus: Choral Laboratory and the literature on choral conducting and vocal pedagogy, Chapter 3 presents and discusses the most used exercises in the voice building activities of these groups, aiming to work aspects such as posture, breathing and support, resonance, vowel differentiation, agility, staccato, sostenuto,homogeneity of vocal registers, extension and harmonic hearing. In the final considerations, voice building is discussed as a complex activity, in which different knowledge, skills and tools are used together and interactively as part of strategies that aim the achievement of artistic and educational goals.

The intent of this study was to observe four at-risk adolescent females participating in a community youth choir. Their self-concept and behavior were monitored for sixteen weeks to see if this music experience had any impact on them.The four girls were institutionalized at a treatment facility for troubled juveniles and wards of the state of Indiana.The girls participated in the White River Youth Choir.Qualitative data were gathered via rehearsal observations, weekly cottage dinner visits, journal entries, formal and informal dialogues. telephone calls, written correspondence. and miscellaneous materials.Two standardized inventories were used as supplementary data.The Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 (CBCL/4-18) was filled out by a counselor. The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: Second Edition (TSCS: 2) was completed by the girls.Data management and analysis were aided by QRS NUD*IST software (Non-Numerical Unstructured Data Indexing. Searching, and Theory-Building).The naturalistic inquiry technique of triangulation was emphasized when discovering patterns among various interrelationships.Emerging themes were:music plays a role in these girls lives, a three versus one division separates the girls, the girls segregate themselves from others, a community choir may not be the panacea, and indications that the girls have been or are at-risk sexually.Behavior and self-concept changes occurred but could not be attributed specifically to choir involvement.Findings of the study suggest that uncontrolled factors (i.e. staff turnover. communication problems, absenteeism, and anti-social behavior) must be addressed before at-risk teenage girls could successfully assimilate themselves into a community youth choir.An on-campus music experience is recommended for institutionalized female adolescents. Organizing a music ensemble having support of institutional staff, emphasizing short-term commitment, using a staff member as director, allowing ownership by using familiar music as well as letting the girls have a say in its choice. providing reasonable challenges. and giving girls individualized attention is suggested. / School of Music

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Music / unrestricted

As brass instruments evolved from crude instruments limited to only a few notes into instruments that could play melodic passages within the vocal range, they began to be paired with the voice. The development traced in this paper will focus primarily on the addition of brass instruments with a choral ensemble from the late Renaissance period through the Modern period. Insight into the historical use of brass and the evolution of choral and brass music allows us to better understand the genre and how subject matter, text, and/or the occasion for which the compositions were composed often influenced the composer’s decision to add brass. Four representative pieces will be studied: In Ecclesiis by Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1554-1612); Herr, unser Herscher by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672); Ecce Sacerdos by Anton Bruckner (1824- 1896); and Ode a la Musique by Frank Martin (1890-1974).

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of character strengths that high school students reported to develop while participating in choir. I created the Character Strengths in Choir Scale (CSCS) to explore the degree to which students believed they exercised 18 character strengths. Local choir students in the pilot study (n = 44) and the main study (n = 114) completed the CSCS and revealed that gratitude, teamwork, and honesty were among the most prevalent strengths while bravery, creativity, and spirituality were among the least prevalent strengths. Student responses were also investigated by subgroups according to gender and years of experience. Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences for the ranking of various character strengths in each subgroup. Aggregately, high school choir students viewed themselves as above average on all assessed strengths.

My dissertation examines mass movement and dancing choruses as forms that proliferated across national, political, and artistic boundaries during the interwar period. Bringing together diverse professional and amateur dance practices such as German movement choirs, American and Soviet pageantry, Busby Berkeley films, and early Martha Graham, I analyze how concepts of unity, precision, and futurity operated within the shared mass movement aesthetics but divergent politics of the United States, Germany, and Soviet Russia. While these forms have been examined by dance scholars as individual phenomena or in their national settings, there has been no full-length comparative study that encompasses this range of forms of dance and national and political ideologies. I argue that form does not predetermine a politics; rather, forms gain political significance through use and interpretation by artists and spectators with political and ideological perspectives—sometimes overt, sometimes implicit. Furthermore, the relationship among the individuals within a group and whether and how they relate to a leader is indicative of how the group participates in politics. I examine the development of German movement choirs and their association with political movements in Weimar and Nazi Germany; I pay special attention to the leftist movement choir activity of Martin Gleisner and Jenny Gertz, figures not well-known in English-language scholarship. I compare Soviet mass spectacles and American leftist dance, both of which were influenced by the Pageantry Movement, and argue that the artists’ political relation to the state impacted what kinds of futurity they could imagine. To argue that the precision chorus line was a site that produced and contested ideals of American womanhood, I bring together the Radio City Rockettes, the chorus in the all-Black film Harlem is Heaven (1932), and Busby Berkeley’s Dames (1934). Finally, I analyze Martha Graham’s all-female 1930s company alongside her political work Chronicle (1936) to discover connections between the company’s social visions and how the choreographed work implicated spectators in a collective future. My project contributes to the dance historical field by bringing together a broad range of artistic and cultural phenomena that are more often found within their national or genre boundaries. By connecting these sites of inquiry through archival research and analysis of textual and visual materials, I show that the political identity of a mass or chorus develops from the particular way that the individuals within the group relate to one another, to any leader present or imagined, and to the constituted outside of the group. In making these arguments, I seek to make dance history part of a larger social history of aesthetics and politics.