Bridging the Divide Between the Soloist and the Ensemble Player

In conservatories and music schools, the general practice for an aspiring pianist is to focus on solo performance learning mainly solo repertoire. With the advent of the advanced degree in collaborative piano, pianists could submerge themselves in the study of duo sonatas, larger chamber music ensembles, and art song. The appearance of this degree was an important step in the development of pianists, as this kind of work requires specific training and focus to master the vast repertoire involved. However it also more clearly brought out the invisible divide separating the solo pianist from the collaborative pianist, a.k.a. the accompanist. While geniuses such as Bach, Beethoven and Brahms were known to compose and perform all types of music, the appearance of super stars such as Liszt and Paganini helped bring into being the term accompanist and since then music world has tacitly embraced this divide. The goal of my dissertational study is to show that this divide need not exist. The three recitals which comprise this dissertational project were all performed at the University of Maryland, the first on 12 November 2010 at Gildenhom Recital Hall, the second at Ulrich Recital Hall on 10 September 2011, and the third at Gildenhorn Recital Hall on 11 November 2011. The repertoire included Rachmaninoff Prelude in g# minor op. 32 no. 12 and Etude-Tableaux in Eb minor op. 29 no. 5, Brahms Sonata for Piano and Violin in d minor op. 108, Mendelssohn Piano Trio in d minor op. 49, Chopin Sonata No.2 in Bb minor, Franck Sonata for Piano and Violin, Prokofiev Piano Concerto no. 2 in g minor op. 16 with pianist Elizabeth Brown as orchestra, Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in A op 47 (Kreutzer), and Paul Schoenfield Cafe Music. All works with violin and cello were performed with violinist Rebecca Racusin, and cellist Devree Lewis. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland(DRUM).

VIXEN, VIRGIN, AND GODDESS: PERFORMANCE PRACTICE AND THE BAROQUE HEROINE

This dissertation comprises performance of three soprano roles in Baroque musical theater pieces, recorded on compact disc. These roles are "Poppea" in The Coronation of Poppea (1642) of Claudio Monteverdi (a filly-produced staging of the 1989 Alan Curtis critical edition in English translation, with the Maryland Opera Studio at the Kay Theater, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, May 3 and 6, 2002; Ken Slowik, conductor); "Galatea" in Acis and Galatea (1718) of George Friederich Handel (a staged reading at Gildenhorn Recital Hall, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, May 29,2003; Edward Maclary, conductor); and "Miecke" (Soprano Soloist) in Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (Peasant Cantata), BWV 212 (1742) of Johann Sebastian Bach (a staged and costumed performance with the Washington Bach Consort at Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall, Alexandria, Virginia, February 2,2003; J. Reilly Lewis, conductor). In addition to performing these three roles, I was the stage director for the reading of Acis and Galatea. Close readings of the libretti, examination of contemporary guides to ornamentation, and research into production histories inform the improvisatory ornamentation found in these compact disc recordings.

IN SEARCH OF THE DIVINE: SPIRITUALITY AND PRAYER IN DIVERSE VIOLIN REPERTOIRE FROM BIBER TO IVES

Composers from all eras and of all ethnicities explore spirituality and prayer by using one or a combination of the following ideas: having a spiritual concept in mind when composing certain pieces, quoting hymns, being influenced by their own personal beliefs, or portraying spiritual figures and ideas in their works. Some musical works are inspired by spirituality; others, as in the case of Bloch's Nigun, even serve as prayers themselves. These recitals gave me the opportunity to approach a wide variety of musical styles while discovering my own mode for expression. The unaccompanied violin works throughout this project trace a distinct lineage from the baroque to the twentieth century. Biber's appendix to the Rosary Sonatas, the Passacaglia for solo violin, is a crucial predecessor to Bach's monumental Chaconne. Eugene Ysaye was inspired to write the Six Sonatas, Op. 27 after he attended a performance of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas given by Josef Szigeti. Ysaye's second solo sonata blatantly quotes Bach's Partita No.3 in E major throughout the first movement. Every movement also contains quotations from and variations on the plainchant Dies Irae. Although each of the solo violin works presented in this project may be viewed as virtuosic concert pieces, each piece allows the performer to transcend the technical hurdles-and perhaps even utilize them-to serve a higher, artistic and spiritual purpose while alone on the concert stage. Each of the sonata works in this project requires a close, equal collaboration between violinist and pianist, rather than displaying the violinist as soloist.

African-American Composers for the Concert Saxophone: A Look at Three Prolific Composers

African-American composers within the field of classical music have made very profound contributions to the literature. In the field of chamber music, Scott Joplin, William Grant Still, Adolphus Hailstork and other composers illustrious composers have created an established and well-documented body of repertoire for many orchestral wind instruments. The saxophone repertoire, however, has not been developed as fully due to its limited tradition as an orchestral instrument and its prominence in the tradition of jazz and popular music. African-American composers in particular appear to be significantly under-represented within the standard concert saxophone literature. My personal experiences with saxophone repertoire in academic settings, solo recitals, conferences and in surveys of standard repertoire from nationally-recognized saxophone teachers support this assertion. There are many African-American composers who have made substantial contributions to the body of repertoire for the concert saxophone. This dissertation examines the works of three prolific African-American composers for the concert saxophone; Dr. Yusef A. Lateef, Andrew N. White III, and Dr. David N. Baker. All have composed more than five separate works featuring the concert saxophone. This project comprises three recitals, each dedicated to one of the three composers selected for this dissertation. Each recital presented will present their compositions featuring the saxophone as a soloist with various types of accompaniment. The project also includes newly-created piano reductions of Dr. David Baker's works for saxophone and orchestra made collaboratively with Baker and arranger John Leszczynski.

The Legacy of Oboist and Master Teacher, Robert Bloom

Robert Bloom (1908-1994) was legendary in the education and performance world. Often hailed as one of the last performers of the Golden Era of classical music and a favorite of conductors ranging from Stokowski to Stravinsky to Shaw, Bloom was an orchestral oboist and English hornist, oboe soloist, chamber musician, teacher (Eastman, Yale, Hartt, Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard and Philadelphia's University of the Arts), composer, conductor, editor of masterworks of the 18th century, and, as a founding member of the Bach Aria group, a seminal influence in the post-WWII revival of Baroque music in America. In The Robert Bloom Collection and the Art of Robert Bloom CD and video archives, we see what his musical ideals were in 1)18th-century performance practices, 2) writing new music for the instrument and commissioning new works, and 3) and transcribing music for the oboe and English horn. As an oboist, I believe it is important that Bloom's teachings, historical performance practices and ideas for expanding repertoire are propagated. Therefore, the works chosen for this dissertation illustrated this legacy. My recitals included 1) some of Bloom's published 18th-century baroque elaborations (his term for ornamentation), as well Baroque works which I have elaborated, 2) works written by him and by other oboists/composers (Labate, Roseman) as well as a flute/oboe duo that I commissioned by Dr. Marcus Maroney and 3) transcriptions by both Bloom and myself (Bach, Donizetti, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Handel, Schumann and Telemann). In these three dissertation recitals, I hope to have illustrated some of Robert Bloom's lasting contributions and impact on the oboe world, and to have demonstrated the potential for carrying forward this legacy by studying his teaching and emulating his example.