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Item THE CATALOG OF AMERICAN WIND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA COMMISSIONS UNDER ROBERT AUSTIN BOUDREAU FROM 1957 TO 2019(2024) Jopek, Bradley Stephen; Votta, Michael; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The American Wind Symphony Orchestra (AWSO) commissioned over 400 works from 1957 to 2019 under the direction of Robert Austin Boudreau with the C. F. Peters Corporation publishing about 200 works. In 2022, Boudreau donated the AWSO works to the University of Maryland Bands and were cataloged by the author of this dissertation with the assistance of Jeffrey Renshaw’s book The American Wind Symphony Commissioning Project: A Descriptive Catalog of Published Editions, 1957-1991 which catalogs 159 works. Discoveries were made to include 255 AWSO works not included in Renshaw’s book.This dissertation is divided into three parts. The first (Chapters 1 and 2) focuses on the history of AWSO, its commissioning project and general programming practices, funding and operations, and the key individuals who created and developed the ensemble over its 62-year history. The second part (Chapter 3) catalogs 255 AWSO works listing the instrumentation, important musical characteristics, program notes, and research resources. It is also intended to act as a supplement to Renshaw’s book for wind band and orchestra conductors searching for wind repertoire. The third part (Chapters 4-6) examines the potential limitations and marketability of the AWSO works as well as future research.Item THREE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITIONS: THE PIANO WORKS THEY COMMISSIONED BETWEEN 1962 AND 2012(2015) Iheadindu Gandy, Christiana Loredana; Gowen, Bradford; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over a period of 50 years—between 1962 and 2012—three preeminent American piano competitions, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the University of Maryland International Piano Competition/William Kapell International Piano Competition and the San Antonio International Piano Competition, commissioned for inclusion on their required performance lists 26 piano works, almost all by American composers. These compositions, works of sufficient artistic depth and technical sophistication to serve as rigorous benchmarks for competition finalists, constitute a unique segment of the contemporary American piano repertoire. Although a limited number of these pieces have found their way into the performance repertoire of concert artists, too many have not been performed since their premières in the final rounds of the competitions for which they were designed. Such should not be the case. Some of the composers in question are innovative titans of 20th-century American music—Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, John Cage, John Corigliano, William Schuman, Joan Tower and Ned Rorem, to name just a few—and many of the pieces themselves, as historical touchstones, deserve careful examination. This study includes, in addition to an introductory overview of the three competitions, a survey of all 26 compositions and an analysis of their expressive characteristics, from the point of view of the performing pianist. Numerous musical examples support the analysis. Biographical information about the composers, along with descriptions of their overall musical styles, place these pieces in historical context. Analytical and technical comprehension of this distinctive and rarely performed corner of the modern classical piano world could be of inestimable value to professional pianists, piano pedagogues and music educators alike.