Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 230-241). Also available on the Internet.

<p> This thesis analyzes Mark Morris' choreography for pedagogical purposes. It explores Morris' technique and style by investigating one of his most acclaimed works: <i>L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato</i>. Because this evening length piece offers a large selection of sections, a total of thirty-two, it provides many possibilities to investigate Morris' musicality, creative process, and style. The musical aspect of Morris' work is examined by focusing on how he often molds the dance to the musical score involving specific rhythms, canons and counterpoints. Analysis of his creative process investigates his use of individual and group work, with the implementation of complex choreographic systems. These contain intricate spatial and movement patterns and can reflect the musical structure of a specific composition or are created directly by Morris. Finally, the analysis of his style explores some of his characteristic forms utilized in <i>L'Allegro</i> with particular attention to detailed shapes and gestures, in addition to torso and foot work. For a greater insight, this thesis also includes interviews with Mark Morris, and some of his former company members who were part of the original production. These are Tina Fehlandt, June Omura, and Megan Williams. A second part of the thesis explores the pedagogical potential of <i>L&rsquo;Allegro</i>&rsquo;s material. The investigation is first conducted through the lens of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), and then through the lens of LMA adaptations for younger student populations, as utilized in the dance education field, by the New York City based Dance Education Laboratory and Seattle based dance educator Anne Green Gilbert.</p><p>

<p> The horn is renowned for its contributions to traditional orchestral repertoire and concert hall performances. Since its induction into the symphony, its uses outside the concert hall have been diverse albeit comparatively sparse. However rare, its implementation still spans from the high arts, to world of pop, and to the avant-garde. In 1976, the haunting, sonorous timbre of Peter Gordon's legendary solo horn would inspire Jaco Pastorius to feature it on his titular album. This paper will analyze and define key nontraditional uses of the horn, discuss the effects of non-notated performance practice on the hornist, provide method studies for improving non-notated performance, and demonstrate how the horn's employment as a compositional, improvisational, and accompanimental instrument, independent of strictly notated music, will help hornists to best perform Jaco Pastorius's <i>Okonkole y Trompa</i>. </p><p>

<p> This treatise explores the historical background of instrumental educational outreach concerts, and provides an overview of current educational outreach programming. The closing section discusses educational outreach concerts presented by a solo violinist, and provides a blueprint for a teaching performance which explores the storytelling power of music. Newly commissioned works for solo violin are included which are especially suited for outreach performances for children.</p><p>

abstract: I'll go to the end of time for you (and you don't even know my name) is an evening-length solo performance created and performed by Kristopher K.Q. Pourzal. It premiered November 8-10, 2013 in the Margaret Gisolo Dance Theatre of Arizona State University. The solo was the culmination (suspension, really) of a wild creative journey, the distillation of a process that initially involved several collaborators. Through a series of neurotically/erotically repetitive episodes of self-composed song, text, and dance, the work mines questions of the desire to be seen and the desire to feel alive. The conventions and constructs of the proscenium stage are both utilized and subverted in examining this platform as uniquely suited for revealing the nature of these experiences and their potential relationship. This document is primarily an account of the show's process--its before and after--and serves as a site of exploration, explanation, analysis, reflection, questioning, and ultimately furtherance of the practice-based research made manifest in the performances. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.F.A. Dance 2014

There is a longstanding historical and cultural relationship between Congo and Cuba via the slave trade and the ‘return’ of Cuban music to Africa, a relationship that has apparently been very scantily documented. It is acknowledged that Congolese roots are present in Cuban music but there is little musical analysis of the actual elements concerned. This thesis addresses this imbalance. Using a performance-as-research methodology, it charts the formation and experience of the fusion band Grupo Lokito. Through bringing Congolese and Latin musicians together in a performance situation, I explore the ways in which musicians from the two traditions recognise and assimilate each other’s groove. This dissertation investigates whether the historic connections enable contemporary musicians from both worlds to recognise similarities in each other’s music. Also included is a historical overview of the Congolese arrival on Cuba, how Congolese musical practices were preserved and assimilated into Cuban music as well as an overview of the evolution of twentieth-century Congolese music. Existing research has focused on issues such as the return of Cuban music to Congo (Topp Fargion 2004), the emergence of rumba Lingala in the 1950s and 1960s (Kazadi 1970; Stewart 2000), and the subsequent development in the 1970s and 1980s of Congolese music away from the Cuban era (Stewart 2000; Ewens 1994). However, this thesis argues that, rather than diverging from the 1970s onwards as is frequently thought, Congolese and Cuban music retained commonalities that can be recognised by musicians immersed in the two styles. An analysis of the musical structure and instrumentation of well-known Cuban and Congolese songs is included, as well as original compositions by Grupo Lokito, with further audio and video available on the separate CD and video. The accompanying CD Rom details the process of creation of material and outlines relevant musical structures.

<p> Non-profit theater companies around the United States struggle to attract younger audience members, which becomes a bigger problem with each passing year as their current consumer base is dying from old age. This paper discusses using nostalgia as a method of attracting the millennial generation to attend the theater. The paper first analyzes the middle class millennial and the reasons that they choose to not attend the theater. The paper continues by defining nostalgia, its history, and its effects on the individual and on consumer behavior. The paper lists examples in other forms of entertainment that compete with theater and in retail that have used strategies with nostalgia that have proven to be successful with the millennial generation. The paper ends by observing how nostalgia has been successful in theater and provides tactics and strategies for theater companies as possible solutions to the lack of younger audience members.</p><p>

<p> Wuhan Han Opera Theater (WHOT, formerly Han Opera) is a 400-year old regional opera based in Wuhan, in Hubei Province, in China. WHOT&rsquo;s recent designation as a <i>public institution</i> under China&rsquo;s neoliberal creative economy initiative to enter the global market has necessitated its transformation from a <i>cultural institution</i> (<i> wenhua jigou</i>) into a <i>creative industry</i> (<i> wehua chanye</i>). As such, WHOT must now create adaptive strategies, alter traditional conventions of performance, infrastructure, education and community presence, reconstitute traditional social functions at the national level, and most importantly, manage a relationship with the government that is entirely novel for both. In the summer of 2016, WHOT participated in two government-led projects: Opera into Campuses and the Chinese National Arts Fund. These programs were the focus of my ethnographic fieldwork, to identify possible effects of the creative economy initiative on a traditional musical institution. Specifically, inquiry was made as to whether and how creative musical and organizational adaptations were being decided, implemented and executed, and as to how the outcomes of these adaptations were being evaluated. Despite using an ethnographic approach, findings from the preliminary study were found to be much more broadly generalizable and applicable across disciplines than expected. As a result, this thesis makes the following arguments: for modernization of an institution of traditional music to be effective, a relationship must exist whereby the transitioning institution is given creative license to generate continued socio-cultural productivity through its creative class (&ldquo;talent&rdquo;) in joint cooperation with, rather than dependence on, government agencies. The goal must be to revitalize rather than simply preserve such an institution, and to avoid cultural attrition of unique musical qualities of the institution.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to (a) examine influences on choral music adjudicators&rsquo; rating decisions of choral performance quality and (b) to see if differences existed among those influences by participants&rsquo; years of adjudication experience and academic training (degree focus). Part One of the study included eight randomly selected participants (<i>N </i> = 8), comprised of choral adjudication experts, to aid in the construction of the data collection instrument. Part Two of the study included a convenience sample (<i>N</i> = 71) comprised of choral music performance adjudicators within the southeastern United States.</p><p> For the primary purpose, the <i>Choral Adjudicator Preference Scale </i> (CAPS), a researcher-constructed data-gathering instrument, was developed to determine influences on choral adjudicators&rsquo; rating decisions of choral performance. A Cronbach&rsquo;s Coefficient Alpha measure of internal consistency was calculated to establish reliability of the CAPS data collection instrument. A coefficient of .934 was found for the CAPS, which indicated a high level of internal consistency. Validity for the data-gathering instrument was established through three sources, (a) an open-ended questionnaire sent to the eight choral adjudicators, (b) a thorough review of the related literature and (c) verification by choral activities chairpersons among the southeastern states. For research question one (What factors influence adjudicators&rsquo; decisions when adjudicating choirs?) a principal component analysis revealed 23 items that coalesced among four factors of influence: (a) the ensemble&rsquo;s performance, (b) visual aspects, (c) extra-musical aspects, and (d) the conductor&rsquo;s contributions. These four factors accounted for 61.49 percent of the total variance in participants&rsquo; responses.</p><p> For the secondary purpose, a two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was calculated to determine if differences existed among factors of influence by participants&rsquo; years of adjudication experience and academic training (degree focus). For research question two (Do differences exist among adjudicators&rsquo; influences on rating decisions by years of adjudication experience?) a significant main effect was found for the factors, <i>F</i> (3, 189) = 216.581, <i> p</i> = .000, &eta;² = .775; however, there was no main effect for years of adjudication experience, nor an interaction effect among the factors and years of adjudication experience. For research question three (Do differences exist among adjudicators&rsquo; influences on rating decisions by academic training?) a significant main effect was found for the factors, <i> F</i> (3, 201) = 195.326, <i>p</i> = .000, &eta;² = .745; however, there was no main effect for academic training, nor an interaction effect among the factors and academic training.</p><p> A discussion of the influences on choral adjudicators&rsquo; rating decisions was presented. Recommendations for future research were suggested regarding music performance adjudication, influences on rating decisions, and characteristics of evaluators.</p><p>

<p> American composer Jake Heggie wrote <i>Camille Claudel: Into the Fire</i> in 2012 for the Alexander String Quartet and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. As Heggie is known for his operas <i>Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick,</i> and most recently, <i>Great Scott,</i> it is not surprising that his seven-song cycle about this passionate female French sculptor is of operatic dramaturgical and musical quality. Due to the complexities and bias that surround Claudel&rsquo;s life story, and the relative novelty of Heggie&rsquo;s music within the art song genre, there is a lack of literature regarding the presentation of an authentic performance of this cycle. This project report concentrates on providing the singer with an interpretive framework based on how Heggie&rsquo;s musical influences and tendencies, along with Gene Scheer&rsquo;s historical, first person narrative, reflect Claudel&rsquo;s life, work, and fiery personality. Through a deeper understanding of Heggie&rsquo;s music in correspondence with Scheer&rsquo;s poetry, a singer can effectively embody the unparalleled passion, artistry, and voice of Camille Claudel.</p>