This project introduced twenty-nine compositions into the wind band and string orchestra repertoire via a collaboration that engaged multiple constituencies. Students of wind and string instruments from Phoenix’s El Sistema-inspired Harmony Project and the Tijuana-based Niños de La Guadalupana Villa Del Campo worked together with students at Arizona State University and composers from Canada, Finland, and across the United States to learn and record concertos for novice-level soloists with intermediate-level accompaniment ensembles.
This project was influenced by the intergenerational ensembles common in Finnish music institutes. The author provides a document which includes a survey of the existing concerto repertoire for wind bands and previous intergenerational and multicultural studies in the field of music. The author then presents each of the mixed-ability concertos created and recorded in this project and offers biographical information on the composers. Finally, the author reflects upon qualitative surveys completed by the project’s participants.
Most the new concertos are available to the public. This music can be useful in the development and implementation of similar collaborations of musicians of all ages and abilities.
Each work has been performed and thoroughly examined by the author in order to develop and offer specific strategies for learning each piece. This project utilizes identification of themes and motives, existing methods, suggested exercises, and suggestions from the premiere performers in order to develop a strategic practice regimen for learning these important works. The discussion of each movement begins with a brief thematic overview to identify the motives and ideas used to construct each movement. The musical content discovered through thematic and motivic identification is used to recommend modified exercises from Arban Complete Method for Trombone and Euphonium edited by Joseph Alessi and Dr. Brian Bowman, Clarke’s Technical Studies for The Cornet by Herbert L. Clarke, The Brass Gym: A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players by Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan, Scale and Arpeggio Routines for Undergraduate & Graduate College & University Students by Milt Stevens and Brian Bowman, and “The Carmine Caruso Method” as taught by Julie Landsman. Each exercise presented is aimed to target a specific challenge of the movement being discussed and will facilitate effective and efficient practice of each work.
Mark O'Connor's Fiddle concerto: Texas style fiddling, classical violin, and American string playing
Classical violin playing and American fiddle music have traditionally been seen as separate musical worlds. Classical violinists practice and study long hours to master a standard repertoire of concertos and sonatas from the Western European school of art music. Fiddlers pride themselves on a rich tradition passed down through generations of informal jam sessions and innovation through improvisation. Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Concerto, premiered in 1993, sounds like a contradiction at first: a quintessential classical form combined with traditional fiddle playing. Examination of the Fiddle Concerto will show that the piece contains classical and fiddle-style elements simultaneously, creating an effective hybrid of the two styles. This document will explore how the history of the classical violin concerto and American fiddle music converge in Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Concerto. To gain an understanding of O'Connor's composition process, I submitted to him a list of questions, via email, in the summer of 2016. O'Connor’s responses provide a unique insight into the genesis of the Fiddle Concerto and his vision for musical compositions that originate from multiple genres. Chapter four of this document will discuss the melodic themes, formal makeup, and techniques presented in the Fiddle Concerto and show how both classical and fiddle elements coexist in the piece. The result of the mix is an exciting work that appeals to a broad audience of music lovers. The final chapter of this document will explore the growing repertoire of music created by cross-pollinating from different styles to create a new style, including selected O'Connor compositions completed since the Fiddle Concerto, as well as similar works by other composers who combined classical elements with other musical styles.
The majority of trust research has focused on the benefits trust can have for individual actors, institutions, and organizations. This “optimistic bias” is particularly evident in work focused on institutional trust, where concepts such as procedural justice, shared values, and moral responsibility have gained prominence. But trust in institutions may not be exclusively good. We reveal implications for the “dark side” of institutional trust by reviewing relevant theories and empirical research that can contribute to a more holistic understanding. We frame our discussion by suggesting there may be a “Goldilocks principle” of institutional trust, where trust that is too low (typically the focus) or too high (not usually considered by trust researchers) may be problematic. The chapter focuses on the issue of too-high trust and processes through which such too-high trust might emerge. Specifically, excessive trust might result from external, internal, and intersecting external-internal processes. External processes refer to the actions institutions take that affect public trust, while internal processes refer to intrapersonal factors affecting a trustor’s level of trust. We describe how the beneficial psychological and behavioral outcomes of trust can be mitigated or circumvented through these processes and highlight the implications of a “darkest” side of trust when they intersect. We draw upon research on organizations and legal, governmental, and political systems to demonstrate the dark side of trust in different contexts. The conclusion outlines directions for future research and encourages researchers to consider the ethical nuances of studying how to increase institutional trust.