In 2015, the Wu-Tang Clan released a single CD copy of their seventh studio album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Musically, the album was intended to provide “sonic closure,” channeling the style of the group’s early albums. Wu-Tang “Abbot” RZA and affiliate producer Cilvaringz were the only members involved throughout the entire recording and production process. The decision to release only a single copy protested the impoverished musical experience brought on by music’s mass reproducibility and ubiquity–an outcome of data capitalism. While many fans of the group took issue with the method of protest, different media have long affected interactions in the world, and RZA’s and Cilvaringz's claims are not completely unfounded. Research from various fields, including musicology, computer science, and sociology, shows how digitization specifically has changed music consumption through streaming services. By tracing the album from its conceptual origin to its purchase by pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli and current ownership by NFT (nonfungible token) collective PleasrDAO, the album's value is presented through the data capitalist, corporate, and cultural lenses. Drawing on work from KRS-One, Lydia Goehr, and Frantz Fanon shows a dialectical relationship between cultural and corporate values. As a result, artists and listeners are faced with navigating both, even as they are subject to exploitation in the production and consumption of music by neoliberalism and data capitalism. In the end, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin succeeds in starting a debate, but its protest against data capitalism is complicated by its recent NFT status.

This research aims to identify ways in which student live-in Musician-in-Residence programs help meet the social needs of older adults through university partnerships. Independent Living retirement communities face a gap in music programming. Student live-in Musician-in-Residence programs like the one at Mirabella at Arizona State University (Mirabella at ASU) were used to help determine how music impacted the quality of life of retirees and how it affected their relationships with a younger generation. Only residents in Independent Living were included in the study. Prior research has shown that when an older adult relocates to senior living, it can be viewed stereotypically as a sign that they are diminishing their capacity to live independently and are preparing to live the rest of their lives detached from society. Additionally, research shows that some retirement communities are unaware of how music programs can encourage the fostering of meaningful relationships for independent retired adults. As adults are retiring earlier, they are living healthier lives and require quality programming that reflects their active lifestyle. In this research, the questions asked provided qualitative responses and residents shared anecdotal reports of their experiences. Questions were divided into two categories, 1). Residential history and prior music experience, 2). Sense of belonging and retention. The results of this study suggest that intergenerational music programs contribute to maintaining older adults' social and emotional health by providing opportunities to engage in music through observation and participation. They also show that music programs serve as conduits for fostering relationships between seemingly disparate groups, in this case, the older and younger populations.

For this project, I commissioned and recorded five new works for contrabassclarinet from five different composers. Composition parameters were given to each composer before they started writing which detailed what needed to be included in each work. Four of the composers were asked to utilize a single, difficult aspect of playing the instrument, which included intonation, low note technique and response, phrasing, and articulation. For the fifth work, the composer was asked to incorporate all parameters of the project. Because of the differences between contrabass clarinet designs, I recorded each work three times using the Leblanc Vito, Leblanc “Paperclip”, and Selmer Model 41 contrabass clarinets to demonstrate that the works were adaptable and playable. In this paper, I will outline the parameters of the project, describe the instruments used for recording and provide a performance guide for each work. It is my hope that these works will provide an enjoyable way for future contrabass clarinetists to become more proficient performers of the instrument.

As a collaborative pianist, learning and performing works that were not originally composed for the piano is standard practice. Wynton Marsalis’ The Ever Fonky Lowdown, premiered in 2018 and digitally released in 2020, is a monumental work for narrator, three singers and jazz big band. The purpose of this research is to create a vocal score so that the work can be rehearsed and potentially performed by a pianist without the full jazz band. This paper and subsequent vocal score should serve as important resources for collaborative pianists and singers, and will help to enhance their knowledge and understanding in preparing this work. This research project is divided into three large sections. The first section starts with a brief commentary on the relationship between The Ever Fonky Lowdown and Marsalis’ earlier work From the Plantation to the Penitentiary, as both works explore similar themes and ideas. This is followed by an analysis of the lyrics and description of each musical number, as well as a discussion of the narration by Mr. Game. The Ever Fonky Lowdown comments on societal issues of the past, present and potentially future, such as freedom, race, greed, consumerism and cultural decay. Wynton Marsalis wrote the narration, lyrics and music, and often masks these societal problems with sarcasm and satire. Presenting a description of the narration, lyrics and music will not only promote future research on this important work, but also will aid the rehearsal and performance process for both collaborative pianists and singers. The second portion of this paper describes some of the reduction techniques used in creating the vocal score. While portions of the reduction process were relatively straightforward, others were more complex. The focus of the second half of the paper is to present the more noteworthy reduction techniques in order for collaborative pianists to understand how the composition was reduced, and perhaps apply similar techniques to their own future projects. The final portion of this research is the complete vocal score for The Ever Fonky Lowdown.

During my career as an oboist, I have only played the oboe d’amore one time before this project. I have always wondered why such a beautiful instrument is scarcely played today, and decided it was time to commission new works that aim to bring back the instrument’s popularity. Tim Carlos composed Fernweh: Sonata for Oboe d’amore and Piano and Two Sketches for Oboe d’amore, Guitar, and Percussion. This document covers the collaborative method Carlos and I experienced, the history of the oboe d’amore, edits made to the compositions, and most importantly a performer’s guide to these two new works (discussing both technical and musical challenges.) The recordings are also included. To purchase either work in its entirety, contact timcarloscomposer@gmail.com.

Following mixed method ethnographic research conducted between January 2020 and January 2022, this thesis discusses how United States all-female mariachi musicians, or mariacheras, express femininity in the mariachi femenil. Mariachis femeniles are all-female mariachis. Building upon Mary Lee Mulholland’s (2013) discussion of how mariacheras in Jalisco are often valued more for their physical appearance than for their musical skills, this thesis investigates how similar phenomena manifest in the United States’ professional mariachi femenil circuit. Applying a Chicana Feminisms lens to a collection of 28 mariachera plática-interviews, generational and transborder mariachi knowledge production, visual expressions of mariachi femininity, and aural feminine expressions in the mariachi setting are complicated. Each participant details what it means to be a mariachera, breaking down concepts of purity in the face of dichotomous cultural gender expectation and the genre’s visual expectations of how female musicians should present themselves in society. These sociocultural phenomena led these women in many ways to disidentify and resignify various pieces of the mariachi tradition to “carve out” their own space in the practice, expressing the concern they want to be respected as a musician, not as just a visual object. Ultimately, the “carved out” space allows mariacheras to perform a “different” sound of mariachi—a negotiation of strength, femininity, and balancing sociocultural expectations of the mariachera in and out of performance.

This paper highlights a method for jazz transcription, comprehension, and practice to be implemented primarily in applied saxophone instruction with undergraduate students. The purpose is the identify and mend the divide between jazz and classical that appears in academia. This divide is one that came about by necessity in the saxophone’s relative youth in the academic world as it found solid footing in conservatories around the world. A literature review establishes the current state of dialogue between both jazz and classical in the academic saxophone community, including the current state of crossover scholarship that discusses the interaction between multiple genres. This review investigates what serves as pedagogical material in an aural discipline like jazz. A thorough approach to transcription is crucial change to the standard practice of jazz transcription typically employed in applied saxophone studios. This approach takes the focus away from the product and places it on the process. This process is demonstrated through a transcription and deconstruction of Charlie Parker’s “Cheryl.” Though this approach is presented through the perspective of a saxophonist, this process can be applied to any number of instrumental disciplines seeking to understand jazz transcription and improvisation more fully.

Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla started to receive greater recognition throughout the world after his death in 1992, leading to the growing popularity of his compositions. An excellent example of this is Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas composed by Piazzolla for his tango ensemble in the late 1960s and later arranged by Russian violinist Leonid Desyatnikov for violin soloist with string orchestra. As this arrangement has grown in popularity, it has become among the many extraordinary pieces that talented violinists play for recitals, concerto competitions and even final jury exams in many musical institutions. However, as of now, many musicians have faced a challenge because there is no published piano reduction for them to use. This project aims to create an orchestral reduction of the string orchestra parts that can benefit both collaborative pianists and violinists. This reduction will create timbres and textures similar to the original orchestration in an arrangement that is idiomatic for the instrument, and worthwhile to rehearse and perform as a collaborative pianist. While the appendix features the new reduction in its entirety, this paper aims at discussing and explaining the most important editing choices in different aspects when arranging the reduction, rather than examining each choice measure by measure throughout the composition. In this way, the technique demonstrated in this document can be employed in other reductions, and will hopefully provide inspiration for collaborative pianists to create new reductions for other works.

A manuscript of a symphony kept on the bookshelves of a library is like a great painting hidden away in a museum where no one can see it. Music needs to be performed to be appreciated and embedded into a culture. The work of a composer must be made accurately easily accessible to musicians and the public for the work to be widely disseminated. This critical edition marks an effort in this direction to shed light on a major work of Mexican composer José Francisco Vásquez Cano (1896-1961).José F. Vásquez was one of the most prolific Mexican composers and accomplished conductors in the first half of the 20th century, yet there is little widespread knowledge about his life and works. This critical edition of the first movement of Symphony No. 2 (1929) will create a path to further performances and recordings, so that future generations in Mexico and abroad can acquire a wider appreciation of this composer’s role in the wider Mexican cultural heritage. This edition aims to show with transparency every critical decision made based on the score’s manuscript and presently available set of instrumental parts. Due to the continued efforts of José J. Vásquez (the composer’s son) to promote the recovery and performance of his father’s music, I have had access to a black and white scan of the full score’s manuscript, and high-definition color scans of 29 parts for each instrument, allowing me to accurately pinpoint possible errata in the manuscript. The critical commentary along with the digitized score aim to offer future conductors and performers access and insight into this important work by an invaluable composer.

In the early part of 2020, musicians faced an unprecedented challenge. A novel coronavirus emerged, spreading throughout the world and creating a pandemic. To control the spread of this virus, local governing officials suspended large gatherings in public spaces, which meant that all live music performances were cancelled for the foreseeable future. As a response to these cancellations, many musicians turned to live streaming, sharing transmissions of live performances over the internet. However, as life under COVID-19-related restrictions continued, the internet quickly became oversaturated with live stream music performances. This led musicians to discover innovative ways to adapt their creative practices for virtual settings. Through the process of commissioning, premiering, and recording new works, this research project explores how music practitioners can create music that is designed specifically for the imposed restrictions on the performing arts that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. To complete this project, I commissioned new works for clarinet and bass clarinet intended for performance under shelter-in-place conditions. The pieces included in this project are Two Flights for B-Flat Clarinet by Bill Clay (2020), 8 Months by Jessi Harvey (2020), R....v...rs....m oooiiiiii by Gabo Champagne (2021) and Od-ieu by Kim Farris-Manning (2021). I presented these works in two virtual formats: (1) I staged a virtual concert of their premieres from my home studio space, and (2) released studio-quality recordings of them paired with extra-musical video footage. This document offers an account of the virtual concert, a description of the process of the video production component, and performance guides for each commissioned piece. An audio/video recording of the virtual concert is included as a supplemental media file to this document, as are all music videos.