For a long time I wanted to compose a concerto for a single percussionist and ensemble. My main motivation was educational: I had not done it before and I wanted to explore the percussion world. I chose chamber orchestra for practical reasons in order to make it more flexible an…
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The portfolio consists of four original compositions: (1) Triptych (for orchestra); (2) Rain Sketch (for oboe & orchestra); (3) Rain Sketch II (for percussion quartet); (4) Calligraphy Fantasia (for Chinese instrumental ensemble). Triptych is written for a large orchestra, is di…
This etude book presents text and music to introduce the high school and undergraduate percussion student to concepts and techniques of percussion traditions from around the world. Etudes are based on music from Africa, Latin America, India, Indonesia, and the Middle East. The i…
In this dissertation, I will analyze and discuss the three pieces presented in Breaking News, a program of original percussion works I presented on January 13, 2008 in the Mandeville Recital Hall at the University of California, San Diego. This program represents my musical inve…
Little is known about the mythology of the avalerion, a mythological bird very much akin to the Firebird of countless traditions. Some of the earliest writing about the avalerion exists in Guillaume de Machaut's poetic work The Tale of the Alerion, and medieval scholars placed i…
Griots throughout West Africa have always been thought of first and foremost as “masters of the word,” known for their oratory skills, as singers, praisers, and keepers of oral history. In this dissertation, I show that the Wolof griot (ġewël) of Senegal is not primarily a verba…
My percussion concerto is scored for percussion soloist, chamber orchestra, and electronics. It explores virtuosity of performance on both Chinese and Western percussion instruments, the timbral interplay between acoustic and electroacoustic sounds, and the art of storytelling i…
This dissertation investigates the dynamics of long-term collaborative relationships between composers and performers, particularly percussionists, with the aim to present useful models of artistic collaboration. It surveys the history of the composer-performer relationship in t…
This treatise seeks to examine the history and performance trends of the percussion section of The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” As no formal research has been done about the percussion section as a whole and the band is approaching its centennial celebration, this is the per…
The objective of this portfolio is to develop a system of notation and compose neoliturgical music featuring the handpan. Until this point, no means of written communication has been in place to express advanced handpan techniques in printed sheet music. My process in researchin…
The purpose of this study is to bring attention to and examine the role of Brazilian percussion in the jazz fusion movement between 1968–1975, as exemplified by Airto Moreira and with a focus on his work with Miles Davis. The importance of Moreira’s work to this time period in m…
The aim of this project is to commission several newer compositions for solo drum set and then provide a detailed insight into the pieces through analysis and performance guides. As well, this document intends to aid high school, college, and professional percussionists with the…
The percussion ensemble pieces of the 1930s and 1940s have many performance practice and instrumental selection considerations when performed in the modern day. The four pieces of music under consideration for this study are Ionisation (1933) by Edgard Varèse, Ostinato Pianissim…
Sparked by the introduction of Janissary percussion into the works of the First Viennese School, composers have been steadily expanding the musical responsibilities and tonal palette of the orchestral percussion section. Most institutions of higher education extensively address …
In this document I examine Brazilian composer Marlos Nobre’s ballet Rhythmetron, adding to the scholarly literature available on the contributions of Latin American composers to the percussion ensemble repertoire. Using archival, ethnographic, and text-based analyses, I inquire …