The rich musical tradition of the Bohemian and Moravian regions of modern-day Czech Republic dates to the Medieval period. In the trumpet community, the orchestral music of Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, and Leoš Janáček enjoys considerable attention. Trumpet authors have also explored Czech Baroque and early Romantic music extensively, including the music of Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky. However, a gap emerged in research of Czech trumpet music and Czech trumpet players from the period after the Czechoslovakian communist coup d’état of 1948. After this event, Czech musicians and artists experienced years of censorship and seclusion from the outside world except for those who regretfully fled their homeland. During this time, opinions developed abroad that in a communist environment without freedom and ideological dictations against artists, great art could not be produced. Much to the contrary, since 1948, Czech composers wrote over two-hundred trumpet works for excellent Czech trumpet soloists. This research project seeks to build a wider awareness of the extensive work by Czech composers and trumpeters during this period, and investigate the definition of Czech musical style and trumpeting. Discussion begins with historical analysis of trumpet repertoire throughout Czech musical history to develop a greater understanding of the music composed during a dark period of communist Czech history. This is followed by profiles of selected Czech trumpet soloists who contributed to the Czech trumpet repertoire by recording and commissioning works by Czech composers. A concluding discussion addresses the definition of Czech musical style, and explores compositional aspects and the playing style that make the music “Czech.” This document includes a catalog of works by Czech composers for unaccompanied trumpet or trumpet and electronics, works for trumpet and keyboard, works for solo trumpet and ensemble, and works for trumpet and other solo instruments with ensemble. This catalog was compiled to serve as a resource for future performers interested in Czech trumpet music.

In Arizona part-time instrumental music educators often spend more time per week with high school students than full-time core subject teachers. Members of the gig economy and heavily involved in the marching arts, these part-time teachers make the conscious choice to seek multiple gig positions to piece together a full-time income void of traditional employee benefits. The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the American workforce, prompting employers to hire more gig workers than standard salaried employees across all industries. However, some part-time workers who rely on social interactions for income are struggling to maintain a career throughout the health crisis. Although unable to see their students in person and prepare for competitions like a normal season, part-time instrumental music educators are continuing to work and teach. Whether each teacher is explicitly aware of it or not, the entire part-time teaching community relies on the accrual and mobilization of social capital to secure and maintain gigs and, by extension, a living. In this thesis, I employ Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital to investigate how part-time instrumental music educators are adapting to virtual remote teaching prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and why they have not experienced job loss to the same extent as many other Americans in this arduous time. Through participant-observer ethnography and direct interviews with 12 active part-time instrumental marching music teachers I analyze not only the social mechanisms that lead to career success but also how each teacher conceptualizes their own vocational narrative. Unlike the idealized “American Dream” narrative of hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, part-time teachers attribute their success to social relationships and luck. As Arizona prepares for a harsh decline in music student enrollment over the next five years due to the pandemic part-time music educators must be aware of how to encourage their students to become the next generation of teachers and how they can work to overcome the daunting privilege gap in musical ensemble participation.

This thesis examines the theological significance and use of chant in the Divine Liturgy of Saint Chrysostom, in both Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism. An overview of the Liturgy and its chant is given while examining contemporary and historical practices. Finally, this paper also offers an overview of trends and practices used by Eastern Christian faithful in the United States.

Previous literature on synchronization to music using finger tapping tasks in a laboratory or otherwise controlled setting has led to some invaluable, albeit dated, theories about time and synchronization. In an effort to modernize some of the approaches utilized in research on music synchronization, this study applies established theories of music entrainment to a fieldwork study. Specifically, this study focuses on the extent to which participants of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art disguised as a dance, synchronize to external timekeepers by analyzing icti in several types of movements and comparing them to musical rhythmic beats.

Sports psychology studies have shown that the presence of music can have involuntary effects on exercise. For example, walkers and runners will spontaneously synchronize gait to auditory signals. However, runners do not normally focus on choreology, acrobatics, and environmental stimuli while exercising. This study contributes to this field of research by adding observations and analyzing degrees of synchronization in a martial art, which may be more cognitively demanding than running.

In Capoeira, participants are still expected to attend to music. The degree of synchronization that occurs in a Capoeira class can then be compared with synchronization in martial arts that have music solely as a background component. These future studies would be analyzing music entrainment in real-life environments with physical activities that are more cognitively complex than running. Moreover, these future studies can help to confirm or challenge current theories of attention and music entrainment and synchronization.