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<p> 1942 was a pivotal juncture in Benjamin Britten's career. Originally, he had planned to emigrate to the United States of America, but after staying a few years, he unexpectedly returned to England in 1942. Upon leaving America's shores, his compositional scores and sketches were confiscated by US Customs. This confiscation, on the one hand, disrupted a smooth transition back to the United Kingdom, but on the other, presented the opportunity for a fresh compositional start. In the years directly following his return, 1943 to 1945, Britten's vocal music is full of metric complexity, suggesting a captivation with metric experimentation. <i>The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard</i> (1943), <i>Festival Te Hein</i>. (1944), <i> the Holy Sonnets of John Donne</i> (1945), and <i>Peter Grimes</i> (1945), diverse in their musical construction and distinct in the types of texts set, share a central compositional concern: the employment of sustained metric conflict as a means of emphasizing structural junctures or poetic ideas. This dissertation presents an overview of metric and hypermetric displacement and grouping conflicts, demonstrating how Britten establishes, sustains, and problematizes meter for expressive and text-interpretative purposes. The methodology employed here draws upon developments in metric theory over the past thirty years, and builds upon analyses that foreground cognitive, performative, and spatial representation.</p><p>

<p> Since the implementation of the New York State Common Core Standards, two primary problems have arisen for elementary instrumental music teachers. First, instrumental music teachers' time to work with students is diminishing. The demands of the rigorous curriculums developed to teach the Common Core Standards create a climate where English Language Arts and Math have precedence over all other subject areas. Music is a core subject in New York State but how it appears in the school day can vary from school district to school district. Second, students are assigned so much more homework causing parents to have reservations about engaging them in other activities but many still involve their children in music. These parents have a set of acquired dispositions of thought, behavior, and taste regarding music or a musical habitus (Bourdieu &amp; Wacquant, 1992; Rimmer, 2006).</p><p> This study identifies and explores the musical habitus of parents of students at a K-5 elementary school within a large economically diverse suburban school district in upstate New York. General music classes are part of each elementary school's master schedule and families have the option to participate in an elementary band or orchestra program. Specifically, the author seeks to understand the <i>musical habitus</i> of parents whose children are participating in the elementary orchestra.</p><p> The analytical and theoretical framework used by the author for this research is grounded in Bourdieu's (1986, 1992) theory of capital, with a focus on his notion of habitus and Epstein's (2010) theory of overlapping spheres of influence. Bourdieu's concept of habitus has been extended into the arts in general and to music in particular to examine the way in which people's individual histories, class origins, family backgrounds and educational opportunities interact to compose their ongoing relationship with the arts. Rimmer (2006) describes a <i>musical habitus</i> as an active, adaptive and generative action in sustaining musical meanings, and the structures in which they are embedded. Epstein's work focuses on one part of Bourdieu's concept of field by uniting home and school for the families involved. Understanding the level at which these three areas must interact will be a focus in the analysis of data. Together, they served as a lens to understand the musical habitus of the parents and why music is valued. This study challenges orchestra directors and administrators to understand why parents encourage and perpetuate their child's participation in instrumental music when balancing the daily schedules of their students.</p><p>

<p> I. Solo Recital: Saturday, November 1, 2014, 5:30 p.m., Organ Hall. <i> Three Pieces, Op. 30</i> (Max Laurischkus); <i>Concerto for Clarinet </i> (Henri Tomasi); <i>Carnival of Venice</i> (Paul JeanJean); <i> Press Release</i> (David Lang).</p><p> II. Solo Recital: Friday, April 17, 2015, 7:30 p.m., Recital Hall. <i> Fantasy-Ballet</i> (Jules Mazellier); <i>Concertino, Op. 15</i> (Jeanine Rueff); <i>Klezmer Rhapsody</i> (Paul Steinberg); <i> Quirk for bass clarinet and computer</i> (Eric Honour); <i>Clarinet Concerto</i> (John Veale).</p><p> III. Solo Recital: Saturday, March 19, 2016, 1:30 p.m., Organ Hall. <i> Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622</i> (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart); <i> Bucolique for Clarinet and Piano</i> (Eugene Bozza); <i>Pastorale (Souvenirs du Fr&ouml;g)</i> (Daniel Dorff); <i>Industrial Strength for Bass Clarinet and Piano</i> (Kenji Bunch).</p><p> IV. D.M.A. Research Project. THE TRAINING OF JAZZ AND POPULAR STYLES IN MULTIPLE WOODWIND DEGREE PROGRAMS, (2017).</p><p> This project attempts to determine if graduate students in multiple woodwind degree programs are provided adequate access to jazz training or performance opportunities as part of the degree program. To meet the professional expectations in the field, multiple woodwind instrumentalists not only need to be able to play several woodwind instruments well, but also in a wide range of styles. In particular, players must be literate in jazz performance styles, primarily to be able to play in swing or big band style but also, occasionally, to improvise. </p><p> Degree requirements that were available online from twenty-four universities that offer a graduate degree in multiple woodwinds were examined, in addition to the background and areas of expertise of some of the woodwind faculty. Interviews were conducted of four woodwind doublers who have played in pit orchestras for Broadway-type shows to learn how they became qualified for that work. In all cases, no identifying information of the players and university programs were shared in the reporting of this study.</p><p> University websites tend to outline only partially the curricular requirements of the Master&rsquo;s level multiple woodwind degree, but it was determined that jazz saxophone is not consistently included as part of the multiple woodwind curriculum. Those interviewed all emphasized that the ability to perform in multiple styles and to perform adequately the stylistic interpretation of written notation in a convincing jazz style is an essential expectation of those jobs. Interviewees recalled that little to no jazz training was accessible in their Master&rsquo;s degrees, and those who were most successful playing in a jazz style had previous access to jazz performance opportunities in their undergraduate degrees. Transcripts of the four interviews are provided as an appendix.</p><p>

<p> The establishment of solid, safe vocal technique during the teenage years is essential to a singer&rsquo;s growth and success as an adult; the purpose of this paper is to investigate vocal pedagogical technique for female singers in their adolescence. Through an exploration of adolescent vocal development, a survey of the <i>bel canto</i> singing tradition, and interviews with voice teachers, this project will discuss a teaching method that values vocal health, development, and longevity in young singers. The final objective will be to better understand and identify the developments and challenges encountered by female adolescents in and around puberty, and to suggest pedagogical vocal techniques for current and future singers and teachers.</p>

This experimental study sought to determine the effect of instruction on the abilities of first through third grade children to single and double discriminate contrasting musical characteristics. Six samples were used. The experimental variable consisted of four sessions designed to teach children to distinguish between fast/slow and smooth/choppy musical excerpts. Subjects were tested on their single/double discrimination abilities following the treatment sessions. Results show that first and second grade experimental groups scored significantly higher on single discrimination items than their control groups. On the double discrimination accuracy section the experimental second, third and control first graders were significantly higher than their counter-groups. These findings demonstrated that the four treatment sessions have a profound effect on first and second grade children's abilities to make single discriminations. They also show that success in making double discriminations may depend more on the individual subjects. Further investigation would be beneficial.

The purpose of this research was to survey elementary school students and find out to which causes they attribute their success or failure in music. Three hundred and ninety-eight students from local schools were chosen at random to answer survey questions placed in the causal categories of Ability, Luck, Effort and Task-Difficulty. This technique is derived from the Attribution Theory; Weiner (1974). These categories were separated into four sub-categories: ability (internal-stable), effort (internal-unstable), task-difficulty (external-stable) and luck (external-unstable). The results show minimal differences amongst the younger students. The scores also show that the intermediate students chose luck and task difficulty as less important than ability and effort, and the stable attributions more important than the unstable attributions. The grade level scores exposed no differences in "ability and luck", and the sex category revealed no differences in "ability, luck and task-difficulty". Females, however, stated that "effort" is more important than the males did.

The purpose of this study was to examine and expand upon the role the Programas de Orquestas Sinfonicas Juveniles (POSJU) experiences play in self-esteem and social skills. The research took place in Felipe Gutierrez y Espinoza School, one of ten POSJU centers, located in the San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thirty-eight students (N=38) aged 7 to 17 participated in this study. Participants rated their self-esteem and social skills using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Social Skills Competence Checklist (SSCC). No significant differences between pre- and post-evaluations on RSES and. SSCC were found. For additional information, teachers evaluated all participants using the Teacher Student Report (TSR). Significant differences were found across the construct of social skills, but not self-esteem. Information regarding the POSJU after school program was collected from parents through a Parent Questionnaire Report (PQR). Overall, parents’ responses towards the program show satisfaction with POSJU.

The general purpose of this research was to determine if a lesson including gender will influence the instrument selection process of fifth grade children. Subjects were two homogeneous groups of fifth grade students from Miami, Florida. Each group received a lesson concerning five acoustic musical instruments: the clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, and drums with photos and music excerpts. The control group did not receive a gender lecture nor did the photographs depict anyone playing the instrument. Overwhelmingly, drums were the instrument of choice in both groups. As a result a second experiment was designed to replicate experiment 1, but drums were removed from the choices and the trombone was substituted as a "male' instrument. It was concluded that gender did have an effect on the instrument selection process in young children.

The purpose of this research is to compare the effects two different teaching techniques-rote and note--have upon high school chorus. Rote instruction involves teaching students who do not have music in front of them. Note instruction involves teaching students who do have music in front of them. The methodology counterbalanced two different high school choirs. Rote and note taught groups were taught four of the same 3-part SAB chorale settings type music. Two recordings were made of each song for each group - once after 30 minutes of instruction and second 24 hours later to test retention. Recordings were randomized and mastered onto CD and given to experts for evaluation. Across the board results were that rote taught groups scored higher than note taught groups on intonation, note accuracy and rhythm. This research does not recommend doing away entirely with note instruction. Rather, this research gives credence to rote as a valid music learning technique, often misunderstood because of the conflicting reports found in the professional literature.