Master of Music / School of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Anna Marie Wytko / Ingolf Dahl’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra is considered a master concert work in saxophone literature. The work was written for saxophone pioneer Sigurd Rascher who was active in commissioning new works for the instrument. Piet Swerts’ Klonos, composed over 40 years after Dahl’s Concerto, is a much newer composition. The work has gained national recognition as a popular competition piece and is a synthesis of new and old compositional styles. These two works strongly showcase the flexibility and virtuosity capable of the skilled saxophonist. This master’s report, presented as extended program notes, includes biographical information about the composers, a historical and stylistic overview of the selected compositions, and a harmonic and formal analysis of the music with respect to performance considerations.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / Jana R. Fallin / Various challenges face rural areas when providing programs similar to those offered by their suburban counterparts. It is difficult for rural areas to provide experiences that larger urban and metropolitan areas can offer. Cooperation is vital to developing arts programming in rural areas. Development and Perceptions of Rural Arts Experiences: A Case Study of the Marshall County Arts Cooperative (MCAC) represents a unique setting where students, teachers and community members were given opportunities to collaborate for the common good of all participants. On September 2nd, 2005 a two-year plan was approved to make a Community Arts Program a reality and operational in all parts of Marshall County, Kansas. Under the guidance of Kansas State University Music Education Department, the researcher developed and studied the Marshall County Arts Cooperative (MCAC). Perceptions of Marshall County students, parents, educators and community members were analyzed. MCAC programs worked in continued cooperation with area public and private schools and eleven arts organizations within Marshall County. The plan provides for the documentation of the project with a completed doctoral dissertation entitled: Development and Perceptions of Rural Arts Experiences: A Case Study of MCAC. The research design is framed into four main categories: (1) MCAC Development, (2) Rural Locale Codes, (3) Arts Experiences and (4) Perceptions of MCAC. A diverse collection of samples include, direct and indirect observation, interviews, documents, artist rosters and audio/video artifacts. Following a thorough analysis, emerging themes provide insight into the development and implementation of the MCAC. Results indicate that cooperation from a variety of people including staff, artists, students, educators and community members played a significant role in the success of MCAC and experiences created diversity in remote and isolated areas.

Master of Music / Department of School of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Frank Tracz / The following report is a comprehensive analysis of two works for wind band and one work for small chamber ensemble, prepared by Patrick Sullivan. The report was completed in addition to a Graduate Conducting Recital, taking place on Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 3:00pm. The concert featured the Kansas State University Wind Ensemble and took place on the Kansas State University Campus in McCain Auditorium, the conductors were Andrew Feyes and Patrick Sullivan. Audio and video recordings of the conducted performance can be found within the K-State Research Exchange database. The following report includes three comprehensive Unit Studies or Teacher Research Guides found in the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band book series. The report also includes three Tracz Analysis Grids, newly published in The Art of Interpretation of Band Music. The examined pieces are as follows. Full band works, Flight by Claude T. Smith and Baron Cimetiére’s Mambo by Donald Grantham. A chamber work for double woodwind quintet, Suite Persane by André Caplet.

Overwhelming evidence supports the fact that music instruction greatly increases academic achievement on standardized test scores at the elementary, middle and high school level. When school districts face budget deficits, typically they alleviate the shortfall by eliminating music programs. Currently in Dallas ISD, teacher salaries are affected by how well a student performs on the STAAR exam. In this quantitative, causal-comparative study, 5th grade music STAAR mathematics scores are investigated to discover if instrumental music instruction using the Little Kids Rock Modern Band method improves academic achievement on the STAAR exam.

abstract: In My Dreams is a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, narrator, and piano, based on the poetry of survivors of childhood sex trafficking. It was created to raise awareness of trafficking through music and poetry through the expression of individual dreams and voices. In My Dreams recounts the devastating loss of childhood and celebrates empowering words of survival. The poetry was collected in poetry workshops held in Calcutta and Delhi India in January 2009. After the poems were selected, translated, and edited, composer Dr. Gerard Yun set them to music. This document outlines the process of creating and performing this unique humanitarian cycle. It also includes the full score, poetry, and composer's notes. Topics discussed include: experiences in finding and collecting poetry; collaboration with the composer, Dr. Gerard Yun; form and structure of the cycle; how each piece was molded to give voice to its inspired poem. Every song is analyzed from both a musical and performance perspective to give an account of the challenges and triumphs of the work and the process of undertaking it, as well as a better understanding of the background leading to its composition. / Dissertation/Thesis / Prologue / My Special Place / In My Dreams / Sometimes in the Night / I Thought I Wore the Watch Last Night / It's 2pm / I Can Hear Them / Create Another Earth for Me / In My Dreams II / Postlude / D.M.A. Music 2010

abstract: The purpose of this project was to commission, perform, and discuss a new work for an instrument pairing not often utilized, oboe and percussion. The composer, Alyssa Morris, was selected in June 2009. Her work, titled Forecast, was completed in October of 2009 and premiered in February of 2010, as part of a program showcasing music for oboe and percussion. Included in this document is a detailed biography of the composer, a description of the four movements of Forecast, performance notes for each movement, a diagram for stage set-up, the full score, the program from the premiere performance with biographies of all the performers involved, and both a live recording and MIDI sound file. The performance notes discuss issues that arose during preparation for the premiere and should help avoid potential pitfalls. TrevCo Music, publisher of the work, graciously allowed inclusion of the full score. This score is solely for use in this document; please visit the publisher's website for purchasing information. The commission and documentation of this composition are intended to add to the repertoire for oboe in an unusual instrument pairing and to encourage further exploration of such combinations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Forecast - Mvt 1: Clouds Descending (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 2: Rain Dance (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 3: Whirlwind (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 4: Tempest and Resolution (LIVE) / Forecast - Mvt 1: Clouds Descending (MIDI) / Forecast - Mvt 2: Rain Dance (MIDI) / Forecast - Mvt 3: Whirlwind (MIDI) / Forecast - Mvt 4: Tempest and Resolution (MIDI) / D.M.A. Music 2011

abstract: Yannis Constantinidis was the last of the handful of composers referred to collectively as the Greek National School. The members of this group strove to create a distinctive national style for Greece, founded upon a synthesis of Western compositional idioms with melodic, rhyhmic, and modal features of their local folk traditions. Constantinidis particularly looked to the folk melodies of his native Asia Minor and the nearby Dodecanese Islands. His musical output includes operettas, musical comedies, orchestral works, chamber and vocal music, and much piano music, all of which draws upon folk repertories for thematic material. The present essay examines how he incorporates this thematic material in his piano compositions, written between 1943 and 1971, with a special focus on the 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese. In general, Constantinidis's pianistic style is expressed through miniature pieces in which the folk tunes are presented mostly intact, but embedded in accompaniment based in early twentieth-century modal harmony. Following the dictates of the founding members of the Greek National School, Manolis Kalomiris and Georgios Lambelet, the modal basis of his harmonic vocabulary is firmly rooted in the characteristics of the most common modes of Greek folk music. A close study of his 22 Songs and Dances from the Dodecanese not only offers a valuable insight into his harmonic imagination, but also demonstrates how he subtly adapts his source melodies. This work also reveals his care in creating a musical expression of the words of the original folk songs, even in purely instrumental compositon. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2011

The mental and physical health issues faced by musicians are multifaceted and generally poorly understood by most musicians, teachers and medical professionals. This monograph will provide students, educators, and institutions with a model to implement a proactive physical and mental health plan. If followed this should ensure a more positive and supportive environment for student musicians. Not only will this help students during their studies, but it will also equip them with resilience as they pursue their careers. Effectively incorporating health education and support within our education system will also benefit this generation of musicians, and every subsequent one. This will lead to a healthier environment within the music profession.In an ideal world, every music school would have a specialized team of health professionals to help address the issues faced by students, including Music Performance Anxiety and its comorbidities, such as anxiety and depression, along with Performance-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders. These common problems, many of which are inextricably linked to their chosen profession, are often dealt with poorly or ignored completely. As musicians, we study our instruments with specialists, at centers of excellence, doing research into the schools we apply for to get the best fit and highest level of education possible. The same priority should be given to our physical and mental health. Specialized treatment is available to musicians often at a prohibitive cost, creating barriers for many students. By introducing personalized care for music students within educational institutions, these resources become available to everyone who needs them. / Music Performance

Undergraduate cellists from diverse pedagogical backgrounds with various levels of technical proficiency often struggle to adapt to the demanding performance standards of the university environment. Frequently, these challenges are caused by technical concepts that have been incorrectly learned or unaddressed in the cellist's previous educational experience. Designed for university cello professors and undergraduate cello students, this study is a remedial and enhancement technical method for developing efficient performance habits; it presents a synthesis of cello performing ideologies, comprehensive technical analysis, physical conformation solutions, original sequential exercises, practice models, and recommendations for supporting literature. The method provides a structured path to expressive mastery and artistic freedom in performing advanced cello repertoire.

In the late 19th century, Georg Schumann (1866-1952) composed an attractive sonata for the cello that remains largely unknown today. By presenting a performer's analysis, this dissertation aims to position Georg Schumann's Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 19 (1898) amongst other more commonly performed sonatas of the era. This paper provides a detailed analysis of each movement of the sonata, an overview of the history and development of the cello sonata and an overview of Georg Schumann's biography leading up to the composition of his cello sonata.