Tales from the Amusement Park is a collection of songs in the musical theatre style with music and lyrics by Matt Villar. The song cycle illustrates a series of vignettes, with each song featuring a different archetypal character (or group thereof) as they navigate a day in a popular amusement park. The project is written for piano and voices, and is most-suited to twelve or fewer voices. The debut performance occurred on March 26 in the Evelyn Smith Music Theatre, and featured twelve singers and one pianist. The cycle aims to connect the audience through the demonstration of "human moments" which are widely relatable, while also introducing them to unique and interesting characters.

This presentation explores the processes of writing and producing the original musical "Subplots," debuted in August 2022. Through composition and music direction lenses, this presentation outlines the creative journey from conception to performance, highlighting the process of collaborating with a librettist, performers, and production team members. This thesis was completed under the direction of Dr. Jody Rockmaker and Dr. Alex Temple; all materials are copyrighted by Anthony Procopio and Sara Matin.

This project seeks to motivate runners by creating an application that selectively plays music based on smartwatch metrics. This is done by analyzing metrics collected through a person’s smartwatch such as heart rate or running power and then selecting the music that best fits their workout’s intensity. This way, as the workout becomes harder for the user, increasingly motivating music is played.

Director Wes Anderson enlisted the talents of composer Mark Mothersbaugh for his first four films (1996-2004), but suddenly decided to turn to composer Alexandre Desplat for the following five films (2009-2021). The question arises as to why this would be the case. In this paper I explore the career backgrounds of Mothersbaugh and Desplat including their musical influences and styles. I then examine Mothersbaugh’s music for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Desplat’s score for The French Dispatch. I analyze the use of music in these films and how it relates to the characters, their feelings, and their thoughts as well as how the music is intertwined with Anderson’s unique direction style. Part of this investigation will highlight the musical styles used, the mixture between composed and borrowed music, and the function of the music in the film to discover the similarities and differences between the two composers. With this paper I hope to fill a gap in the literature on film studies focused on the work of Anderson.