Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item TONES IN BLACK: A HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN BASS/BARITONES IN CLASSICAL MUSIC: IN THE ECHOES OF ANCESTORS, A PIONEER’S VOICE(2024) McIlwain-Lightfoot, VaShawn Savoy; Short, Kevin C.; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation project has three major foci: a) to trace the history of classically trained African American Bass/Baritone vocalists through performance, recordings, and narrative; b) to recognize the historical performances of African American Bass/Baritone vocal pioneers and the significant contributions they made to the accessibility of opportunities for other African Americans within these voice types; and c) to discuss how Bass/Baritone community performances can promote social connectedness and DEI in opera. In addressing these foci, the paper will emphasize how the performances of Bass/Baritone vocal artists, past and present, have a) made African Americans, in general, more acceptable to White audiences and b) changed the perceptions of White Americans about who African Americans are and what they are capable of. Methodology involved securing physical/digital historical data from newspapers, journals, and books; collecting photos, programs, and articles from the private library of a former University of Maryland professor; conducted oral history interviews of students and progeny of the first African American Baritone to sing with a major opera company in the U.S. (Todd Duncan); delivered community performances domestically and internationally as a current example of the legacy of African American classical vocal artists, specifically Bass/Baritones. This project’s accounting of historical performances can serve to recognize unknown or forgotten contemporaries and predecessors.Item A REVISIONIST HISTORY OF INDEPENDENT CLASSICAL PERCUSSION SOLOISTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY(2024) Rocheteau, Robert Alexandre; Votta, Michael; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the marimbists, multi-percussionists, and solo-percussionists who were independent classical soloists in the twentieth century. Traditionally, scholarship has seen the histories of these percussion soloists as separate from one another. By proposing new frameworks and contexts, this revisionist history shows how marimbists, multi-percussionists, and solo-percussionists form a continuum. These frameworks mark pivotal shifts in history and include percussion practices, eras of percussion soloists, and generations. The “percussion practices” framework shows how composers have used percussion in classical music. The “eras of percussion soloists” framework shows what percussionists did and what percussion instruments they performed on. The “generations” framework shows how each particular solo art form evolved.Item Associations between Classical Music, Physical Activity and Symptoms of Depression in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic(2023) Arnold-Nedimala, Naomi A; Smith, J Carson; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background: The initial lockdown in March 2020 due to COVID-19 rattled the residents of North America as normalcy came to a standstill, freedom was stripped away, and people were forced to adapt to new restrictions and regulations, simply to survive. The elderly population was greatly affected by the lockdown as it prohibited those living in assisted living facilities to physically interact with family and friends highlighting the need to identify protective behaviors against mental health and depression. The neurological benefits of listening to classical music is an emerging area of research. A few studies suggest the positive outcomes of listening to classical music in reducing symptoms of depression. Additionally, while the cardiovascular benefits of exercise are well known, the impact of exercise on affect continues to be an emerging area of research. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the efficacy of listening to classical music in attenuating symptoms of depression in older adults (50 – 90+) utilizing data collected from 3 separate time points during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine if physical activity is associated with providing additional benefit to lowering symptoms of depression Methods: A survey including the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), and questions about listening to music (classical, Broadway, Christian music), and the frequency of listening to music was generated and distributed to people living in the United States and Canada immediately following the initial COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020. Informed consent was obtained prior to completing the survey, and participants who were interested in receiving a follow-up survey were asked to provide their email addresses. The follow-up surveys were generated 4-months (August 2020) and one year (April 2021) after the initial survey. Results: At the initial onset of the COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020, significant associations were observed between classical music listening (CML) and lower symptoms of depression, physical activity (PA) and lower symptoms of depression, music listening frequency, and lower symptoms of depression. In August 2020 and April 2021, significant associations were found between physical activity and lower symptoms of depression. However, no associations were observed between classical music listening and lower symptoms of depression, and music listening frequency and lower symptoms Additionally, significant associations were observed between age and lower symptoms of depression, sex, and lower symptoms of depression at all three time points. Conclusion: The results from our study suggest that there is an association between classical music listening and symptoms of depression, physical activity and symptoms of depression, music listening frequency and symptoms of depression in older adults (50+) during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020). Additionally, the association between physical activity and symptoms of depression was maintained throughout the first year of the pandemic as supported by the data collected in August 2020 (4 months) and April 2021 (12-months).