Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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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 “CHARACTERS” IN DIVERSE WORKS FOR PIANO, 1720-1944(2024) Chan, Ham; Dedova, Larissa; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The main aim of this research project is to gain a thorough comprehension of piano music classified as “Character Pieces,” as well as music that exhibits similar musical traits but is not officially categorized as such. In a narrative context, a character is typically defined as a person depicted within a story, either through description or direct speech. In the realm of music, characters are often linked to the mood or atmosphere. Expanding on this, characters in music should assist performers and listeners in creating a musical scene through their individual imaginations. The fundamental essence of “Character Pieces” can be distilled to compositions imbued with distinctive musical qualities. While there exists no unanimous consensus regarding the precise criteria for characterizing a piece as such, there is a general consensus that compositions bearing evocative titles such as Ballade, Fantasy, Nocturne, and Mazurka are commonly regarded as character pieces. In a more scholarly context, the Harvard Dictionary of Music aptly defines the term “Character Piece” as a convenient designation encompassing a substantial body of short compositions from the 19th century, designed to express a definite mood or programmatic idea. Most of these compositions are written in ternary form, a structure that proves especially suitable for depicting two contrasting moods, such as the dramatic section A and the lyrical section B.A notable feature of the genre is its freedom from a fixed naming convention, enabling compositions to encompass a wide array of titles. This stands in stark contrast to other genres such as Sonatas and Variations, which are inherently defined by predetermined names and structural elements. However, influences on “Character Pieces” in terms of structure and musicality can be found in some of these genres. Several of these works will also be highlighted in the program. “Character pieces” can be viewed as a genre conceptualized by scholars to encompass the majority of piano music from the 19th century that may not adhere to conventional notions of “serious” music. Given the flexibility of this classification, the three planned recitals have been carefully curated to showcase music relate to this genre, spanning from works of Bach to Prokofiev composed between 1720 and 1944. Each recital will revolve around a central theme, with the initial installment titled “Fantasies and Ballades,” followed by “Humanity” in the second recital, and concluding with “Literary Inspirations” in the final recital.Item A STUDY OF SELECTED COLLABORATIONS: PREPARING AND COACHING PIANO CHAMBER MUSIC FOR PERFORMANCE(2021) Su, Ying-Shan; Sloan, Rita; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Every devoted musician strives for excellence in performance. In chamber music rehearsals, it is crucially important that this same devoted musician should do more than simply get the music ready for successful performance. The work of rehearsal involves striving to fulfill the intentions of the composer, an effort which will hopefully satisfy both the musicians and the audience. It is equally important for musicians to learn more about shared leadership and collaborative teamwork, which lie at the heart of the chamber music genre as well as at the heart of the rehearsal itself. This entire process requires proper guidance towards the relevant information and knowledge and I feel that the type of learning and development acquired through a successful chamber music experience will benefit music students and encourage them to take ownership of their musical growth and long-term learning. However, a major roadblock to acquiring this knowledge is the lack of written pedagogical material. Therefore, in this dissertation, topics pertaining to music preparation and the rehearsal process involved in the three programs of selected piano chamber music as well as related coaching ideas will be discussed. Hopefully, the performances along with this document will contribute to the information available on how one learns to organize and prepare for piano chamber music performances in a more systematic and group-oriented way. The recital programs were presented on September 30th and December 8th, 2020, and March 30th, 2021. Recordings of these three recitals can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).Item Drawn from the Well of the People: The Living Stage Theatre Company and their Groundbreaking Community-Based Practice(2020) Crowley, Patrick Abram; Harding, James M; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Drawn from the Well of the People is the first full-length history of the Living Stage Theatre Company. Founded in 1966 by Robert Alexander, Living Stage was the education and outreach arm of Arena Stage in Washington D.C. until their closing in 2002. A multi-racial, improvisational, and community-based company, Living Stage broke ground with many socially engaged theatre practices, and through their process-based approach they created theatrical engagements with, not just for their constituents. Famous for engaging the “forgotten” people of D.C. and beyond, Living Stage worked with young people besieged by poverty and segregation, seniors, the deaf and hard of hearing, disabled students, and inmates at correctional facilities like Lorton Prison and D.C. Jail. This project relies on the Living Stage Records at George Mason University Library’s Special Collections Research Center and is the first major work to do so. Additionally, long-tenured company member Jennifer Nelson donated her personal archive, which was gifted to her by Robert Alexander, to aid in the completion of this project. Oral histories from five company members were collected to supplement and enliven the written records. The dissertation also addresses the work of Haedicke and Biggs, the only extant scholarship on the group. Living Stage’s contributions force us to reconsider the intellectual history of socially engaged theatre in the United States, as they devised similar strategies to those found in Theatre of the Oppressed but did so before Augusto Boal created and published on his system. Similarly, how they obliterated the fourth wall and troubled the hierarchy between artists and audiences by engaging participants as co-creators expands the canon of radical and experimental theatre in the U.S. While their participatory approaches and commitment to marginalized communities radically democratized theatre practice, their institutional practices replicated systems of domination in important ways. For scholars and practitioners alike, Drawn from the Well of the People, offers potent models and philosophies of socially engaged theatre, case studies to illustrate the work in action, and some cautionary tales about failing to apply the ethos of the work to the internal workings of the company.Item The Effects of With-Text and Without-Text Song Presentation Styles on Preschoolers' Singing Voice Use and Pitch Accuracy(2018) Kendal, Jessica Leigh; Hewitt, Michael; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of with-text and without-text song presentation styles on the song-singing competencies of singing voice use and pitch accuracy in preschool children. A secondary purpose of the study was to discern if there were any relationships between preschoolers’ tonal developmental music aptitude, song presentation styles, singing voice use, and pitch accuracy. A total of twenty-nine 3.5- to 5-year-old preschoolers from a university children’s center in the Mid-Atlantic United States were randomly assigned within intact classes to either a text-only song presentation style or a syllable-text song presentation style when being taught two new, unfamiliar criterion songs within the context of weekly 30-minute music and movement lessons at the center. Participants in the text-only control condition (n =13) heard and sang the criterion songs with text for the entirety of the 11-week study; participants in the syllable-text intervention condition (n =16) heard and sang the criterion songs on a neutral syllable for the first six weeks of the study, then with the associated text for the remaining five weeks. All participants were pretested for developmental tonal music aptitude and were recorded singing a familiar song to determine baseline singing competencies before the start of the study; all participants were recorded singing the two criterion songs at the conclusion of the study for posttest measurement. Recordings were evaluated by three trained raters using Rutkowski’s (1998) SVDM and were evaluated by the researcher for pitch accuracy percentage scores. Results of descriptive statistical analyses showed no significant differences in median scores between the groups for singing voice use or pitch accuracy at posttest. Results of correlational analyses suggest that presenting new songs initially without text may support preschoolers’ use of singing voice, while presenting new songs with text may support preschoolers’ pitch accuracy. These analyses also showed minimal correlation between tonal developmental music aptitude and singing scores. Pitch accuracy was found to be highly correlated with singing voice use.Item AN ARTS HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO COLLEGE READINESS(2014) Hovermale, Robert Blake; Strein, William; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to determine if a positive relationship exists between college readiness and a high school for the arts experience. This research focused on one arts high school in order to determine graduate perspectives on the overall importance of such an education and whether or not this style of learning was valuable preparation for college. This study used a mixed-method approach through the use of a quantitative survey with multiple rating items and qualitative open-ended questions and interviews. Influenced by the work of Daniel Pink, Elliot Eisner, Howard Gardner, and Eric Jensen concerning knowledge and skill transfer, and benefits of the arts, this study seeks to provide an understanding of graduates' ongoing perspectives on the value of an arts-rich education (Pink, 2005; Gardner, 2006; Jensen 2001). Of specific importance is how these experiences have influenced the formation of their well-being, education, and preparation for college. Is the arts high school experience a beneficial and realistic pathway to college preparedness? Ultimately, the study offers valuable suggestions moving forward as the individual school grows and data to guide in the development of other unique schools.Item The Dramaturgy of a Maritime Metaphor: Marcus Rediker's Influence on Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare(2013) Barker, Andrew Neal; Carpenter, Faedra C.; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Within the dramaturgy of One Flea Spare by playwright Naomi Wallace, one historical source illuminates the story more than the others: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Marcus Rediker. By tracing the parallels between Wallace's drama and Rediker's history, a historical paradigm surfaces in Wallace's work just as a dramatic paradigm surfaces in the work of Rediker. Accordingly, this thesis asks: how does the exploration of Rediker's maritime history of the early eighteenth-century Anglo-Atlantic world from a seaman's perspective suggest a dramatic paradigm for Wallace's play? After considering how Rediker centralizes conflict between the seaman and the captain, this study then focuses on the parallel situation found within One Flea Spare in order to provide a productive analysis of analogous scenarios. This thesis also argues that the class-conscious work of Naomi Wallace and Marcus Rediker uses history and metaphor to contribute to a common dramaturgy.Item Understanding Shakespeare to Understand America?: The National Endowment for the Arts's Shakespeare in American Communities Initiative(2013) Derr, Ashley; Hildy, Franklin J; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In 2003 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) created the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to introduce participants to the plays of Shakespeare through live productions and educational workshops. Each year, selected theatre companies receive a matching grant through this program that enables them to create educational activities and performances that are then provided free or at low cost for communities that have traditionally been considered under-served by arts programs. In an introduction to the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative published on the NEA's website in 2007, former NEA Chairman Dana Gioia wrote, "In order to understand American culture or American theater, one must first understand Shakespeare." It is this provocative statement that provides the impetus for the primary research questions of this dissertation. What did the NEA under the chairmanship of Dana Gioia believe that Shakespeare could and should teach citizens about American culture? How did the NEA's marketing of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative serve to establish a branded product that could improve the reputation of the NEA following the battering it had taken during the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s? Through interviews with key participants in the initiative, including Chairman Gioia, analysis of the NEA's promotional literature for the program, data compiled from the self-reports of participating theatre companies, and analysis of the media's response to this and other NEA projects, this study provides both a detailed history of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative as well as a consideration of its position and importance within the overall narrative of the history of the Endowment. This study also includes an analysis of Gioia's understanding and use of the term "culture" and the manner in which that understanding influenced the goals of the NEA under his leadership. This detailed analysis of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative provides not only an overview of a major Shakespeare performance-based educational program, but also an explanation of how the program was strategically branded and marketed to improve the reputation and status of the NEA at the turn of the twenty-first century.Item High School Choral Students' Perceptions of Choral Music Experience(2011) Hairston, Amy Theodosia; Montgomery, Janet M.; Carter, Bruce A.; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)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.