High School Choral Students' Perceptions of Choral Music Experience

The purpose of this study is to explore high school students' perceptions of their choral experiences, providing an understanding of students' ongoing perspectives of choral experience. Specifically, how have these experiences influenced the formation of their musical identities as members of a choral ensemble? The researcher collected data from the three participants during a full school year. The participants were current students in the researcher's advanced choral ensemble. Through axial coding, three themes emerged: musical interpretation, attitude, and group efficacy. The study revealed that experienced choral students have well-informed musical perspectives that influence their choral experiences. Implications for music education include using students' perspectives for creating rehearsal strategies, planning and programming performances, and fostering a nurturing learning atmosphere. Suggestions for further research include comparing experienced students to non-experienced students, comparing ensembles with student-chosen repertoire to those with director-chosen repertoire, and further examining the impact of choral experience on musical identity.

Afro-Cuban Bata Drum Aesthetics: Developing Individual and Group Technique, Sound and Identity

The Lucumi religion (also Santeria and Regla de Ocha) developed in 19th-century colonial Cuba, by syncretizing elements of Catholicism with the Yoruba worship of orisha. When fully initiated, santeros (priests) actively participate in religious ceremonies by periodically being possessed or "mounted" by a patron saint or orisha, usually within the context of a drumming ritual, known as a toque de santo, bembe, or tambor. Within these rituals, there is a clearly defined goal of trance possession, though its manifestation is not the sole measure of success or failure. Rather than focusing on the fleeting, exciting moments that immediately precede the arrival of an orisha in the form of a possession trance, this thesis investigates the entire four- to six-hour musical performance that is central to the ceremony. It examines the brief pauses, the moments of reduced intensity, the slow but deliberate build-ups of energy and excitement, and even the periods when novices are invited to perform the sacred bata drums, and places these moments on an equal footing with the more dynamic periods where possession is imminent or in progress. This document approaches Lucumi ritual from the viewpoint of bata drummers, ritual specialists who, during the course of a toque de santo, exercise wide latitude in determining the shape of the event. Known as omo Ana (children of the orisha Ana who is manifest in drums and rhythms), bata drummers comprise a fraternity that is accessible only through ritual initiation. Though they are sensitive to the desires of the many participants during a toque de santo, and indeed make their living by satisfying the expectations of their hosts, many of the drummers' activities are inwardly focused on the cultivation and preservation of this fraternity. Occasionally interfering with spirit possession, and other expectations of the participants, these aberrant activities include teaching and learning, developing group identity or signature sound, and achieving a state of intimacy among the musicians known as "communitas."

THE EFFECT OF A PROGRAM OF PORTABLE ELECTRONIC PIANO KEYBOARD EXPERIENCE ON THE ACQUISITION OF SIGHT-SINGING SKILL IN THE NOVICE HIGH SCHOOL CHORUS

The problem was to determine whether a method of aural and visual vocal training that included a program of portable electronic piano keyboard experience would be more effective in teaching sight-singing skills to novice high school chorus students than a method that included only aural and visual vocal training. A sub-problem was to determine whether novice chorus students enjoyed playing electronic keyboards in chorus as a reinforcement experience in sight-singing training. Students were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, tested with the Musical Aptitude Profile, Tonal Imagery, part A, and then trained separately. The experimental group sang repetitions of melodic patterns and utilized techniques associated with the Kodály Method while simultaneously playing keyboard. The comparison group received a similar treatment without using keyboards. The students were pre- and post-tested in sight-singing using the Vocal Sight-Reading Inventory. Results of the Analysis of Covariance using MAP scores as the covariate revealed no significant difference (p<.05) between post-test scores of the two groups. Improvement was noted in 96% of students from pre-test to post-test regardless of grouping. The repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant relationship (p<.006) between aptitude group and post-test score. High aptitude students in both groups were found to benefit more from the training than low aptitude students. High aptitude keyboard group students achieved an average gain score that was 8.67 points higher than the comparison group. Of the total experimental group, 92% enjoyed playing keyboards in chorus. It is recommended that future research be undertaken to study the use of keyboards with advanced high school choruses and with uncertain singers in the high school chorus. Research is also needed to develop graded, valid, and reliable sight-singing tests for use in high school chorus. Techniques of the Kodály Method should be further investigated for use in high school sight-singing training.

NEW PERSPECTIVES: TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR VIOLA

One must only glance upon Franz Zeyringer’s 400-page, exhaustive Literatur für Viola to understand the error of the familiar but casual criticism of the paucity of the viola catalogue. Examining Zeyringer’s resource, however, we find a trend: while the viola repertoire contains many pieces (over 14,000 works) and does lay claim to many masterworks (Bartok’s Viola Concerto, Hindemith’s Sonatas, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, etc.), many of the pieces originally written for the instrument are not widely recognized compositions and not often considered outstanding achievements. The violist, much like the double-bassist, bassoonist, and hornist, faces a certain challenge when selecting repertoire for a recital: a lack of large, important works that both fit the instrument and challenge the recitalist. This project will aim to expand recital repertoire for the viola through the development of new transcriptions, using the previously transcribed Fantasy Pieces by Schumann (trans. Leonard Davis) and Sonata No. 2 in E-flat, Op. 120 by Brahms (trans. Brahms) as an inspiration and guide. As a result, the catalogue of viola repertoire will not only be increased but the difference in tone and depth of the instrument may unveil previously unnoticed perspectives on the works. With a primary aim to expand the literature of the viola through the development of new transcriptions, this project will also strive to offer new, previously unnoticed perspectives on preexisting works. Through the changing of the instrumentation, listeners and performers will have the opportunity to explore the character of the compositions in a fresh and possibly illuminating way. Perhaps this project will encourage previously unexplored transcriptions to be realized and performed. While the recital repertoire for the viola boasts many and great works, the original transcriptions of this project attempt to infuse the collection with new and interesting possibilities for both study and performance. This dissertation project is comprised of three recitals featuring works transcribed for viola and, in most cases, newly transcribed by myself. All events took place on the campus of University of Maryland, College Park: Recital #1 on November 9, 2014 in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center; Recital #2 on May 9, 2015, in Ulrich Recital Hall; and Recital #3 on November 6, 2015, in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall.