Perspectives on emergent wind band literature| Understanding the views of band directors in high school instrumental settings

<p> Directors of school concert bands continue to program new and emergent works alongside pieces considered to be part of the core and traditional repertoire. The purpose of this dissertation was to discover what criteria directors consider important in their review of new and emergent concert band works for use in rehearsal and performance. A secondary objective examined if director experience and educational background influenced the evaluation of this music used in high school instrumental settings. </p><p> In order to evaluate this recent repertoire, the Concert Band Repertoire Evaluation Criteria (<i>CBREC</i>) was developed by the researcher, and reviewed by a panel of collegiate directors. The review of the <i> CBREC</i> revealed it to be a reliable tool for the purposes of the study. An independent panel of experts in concert band repertoire selected three works to be reviewed by participants. Invited participants comprised band directors who hold membership in an international band fraternity. The teaching responsibilities of these directors included conducting concert bands at American senior high schools. Participant directors rated each work using the <i> CBREC</i> after viewing an image of the music score and listening to an audio recording of the piece. The participant directors had the option of rating their familiarity with each piece used and answering three open-ended questions regarding repertoire selection. </p><p> Data collected from the participants indicated favorable mean ratings for the works used in the study. When the participant data were analyzed in sub-groups, several statistically significant findings were reported. Sub-groups including older directors, directors teaching only one ensemble, and directors who answered open-ended questions in the study demonstrated more stability in their ratings of the repertoire used in the study than did younger directors, directors teaching multiple ensembles, and directors who did not respond to open-ended questions. </p><p> Results suggested participant directors reached a consensus regarding several aspects of the pieces used in the study, indicated by the <i> CBREC</i> Ratings and open-ended comments. The correlational analysis of <i>CBREC</i> Items demonstrated that directors are considering multiple aspects of a work during the evaluation process. Data supported that melodic material, pedagogical use, as well as timbre and orchestration influence how this group of directors estimate the longevity of new concert band works. </p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3618934
Date13 June 2014
CreatorsWeller, Travis J.
PublisherKent State University
Source SetsProQuest.com
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typethesis

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