M.A. - Music
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Item Na'lå'la' I Taotao Tåno': Navigating the Performative Terrain of CHamoru Reclamations(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2021) Gumataotao, Andrew Mantanona; Moulin, Jane; MusicMany scholars have examined the decolonization movement of the CHamoru people of Guam however, little attention has been placed on how CHamoru expressive culture is a significant arena embedded in such calls for social justice. This thesis investigates the contested ground and oceans of CHamoru political rights through the framework of performativity that traces various facets of Indigenous reclamations throughout Guam’s history and contemporary reality. I draw insight from Pacific scholars that interrogate notions of tradition and Indigeneity while at the same time, interweaving CHamoru voices who actively use music and dance for the purposes of maintaining, reshaping, and perpetuating CHamoru culture. Through the perspective of an Indigenous CHamoru, I employ an ethnographic memoir approach to this applied ethnomusicological study of CHamoru resistance that is diffusely articulated in a myriad of ways through history, complicated life stories, political upheaval, militarization, and responses to ongoing colonization. By privileging CHamoru agency enmeshed in intellectual rigor, this thesis aims to articulate what Danielle Brown poignantly affirms as a study written from a place of familiarity, about places and people who are crucial to my continued development. Through decolonization lived in performance, this body of work is an “ethnography of home”.Item Sustaining Musical Identity of the Ichigenkin: Negotiating Performance, Composition and Aesthetics of Japan's One-string Zither of the Seikyodo Ichigenkin School(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2021) Rice, William Richard; Lee, Byong Won; MusicTradition and modernization have been competing facets of the Japanese cultural arts since the opening of trade with the West at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1968. Japanese traditional musicians have needed to negotiate to what degree western aesthetic influence should have on the music. The ichigenkin is one such tradition. The ichigenkin is a rare one-string zither, once favored by monks, samurai, and literati classes during the Edo Period. In 1989, at the age of 21, Minegishi Issui (b. 1967) inherited Seikyodo Ichigenkin, a family-run school, founded by her great-great grandfather, Tokuhiro Taimu (1849-1921), dedicated to preserving the art and philosophy of the ichigenkin. In efforts to sustain a disappearing musical art, Minegishi Issui has negotiated a number of changes under her tenure as iemoto of Seikyodo Ichigenkin. These changes include incorporating new playing techniques, commissioning new compositions, experimenting with musical form and structure, improvising in performance, and incorporating cross-cultural influences. Despite these objective changes and additions to the ichigenkin tradition, I argue that Minegishi has kept the cultural aesthetic of the music that gives the Seikyodo Ichigenkin school its identity and meaning, all while adhering to the original philosophy set forth by the school’s founder. This thesis will discuss efforts that Minegishi Issui has taken to sustain and bring new life to the ichigenkin tradition.Item Tahitian dance as taught in Hawaiʻi(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1978) Paisner, Miriam Natalie.; Music (Ethnomusicology)I chose to study Tahitian dance because of a deep attachment and love for its sounds and movements--movements I did not understand yet wanted to experience, movements I was not sure my body could learn to do but that needed trying. In addition, Tahitian pItem Fijian meke: an analysis of style and content(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1978) Good, Linda; Music (Ethnomusicology)It is the author's hope that this study will help students of Fijian culture understand the beauty and importance of meke (action chant). Little has been published about Fijian traditional music. Most of this has been of a general nature, written by missiItem Taking The Tradition Out Of Traditional: The Shakuhachi In The Naruto Anime(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2021) Shaver, Travis John; Lee, Byong Won; MusicIn my five years playing the shakuhachi (the traditional Japanese bamboo flute), I have noticed that with increasing frequency, people come up to me with new and interesting ways in which they associate the sound of the instrument. The traditional association—and the reason I wanted to study the instrument—was its history as a Zen Buddhist tool to gain enlightenment. This is also almost the exclusive discourse in academic literature. However, among the public this association is changing, and I am more likely to hear audience members mention how they have heard the sound in and associate the instrument with its use in modern compositions like Tōru Takemitsu’s November Steps and popular contexts like in a track of Linkin Park, Hollywood movies like Jurassic Park, video games like Okami, and anime like Naruto. With the global rise of Japanese popular and traditional culture and the Japanese government’s use of it as a political and economic tool to increase soft power and their status as a cultural superpower through government programs such as “Cool Japan,” phenomena like this are ever more important to examine. This thesis aims to investigate a small portion of this phenomenon, in particular the use of the shakuhachi in Naruto. I break down the dissociation from its traditional meanings and uses in the Zen honkyoku repertoire and sankyoku music and its transformation into a consumed sound. Using transcriptions of the score, I analyze how the shakuhachi is utilized in the score and why, connecting it to Japanese and Western sounds, scales, and genres. Finally, I also use surveys and an interview to evaluate fan reaction to these items as well as their own creations using the sounds of the instrument. Throughout this thesis I argue that although the shakuhachi is still very much connected to the history and culture, without this knowledge many Naruto fans are creating and attaching connections, meanings, and value to the shakuhachi that are linked to this history and culture but at the same time new and detached from it.Item Musical Aesthetics in Alex North's Score for The Bad Seed(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2020) Martin, Johnette M.; McQuiston, Kate; MusicThe Bad Seed is an American, female-centered psychological thriller that aestheticizes attitudes toward 1950s gender roles. Director, Meryn Leroy, and composer, Alex North, tap into a fear of the young character, Rhoda as a threat, but more so, a fear for the character, Christine as a person and a mother. My work demonstrates how North contributes to female-centered film aesthetics by offering sympathetic consideration for female characters through his original music. Through critical analysis of genre-specific film and its music in the example of Mervyn Leroy’s The Bad Seed, I demonstrate aesthetic connections between Alex North’s The Bad Seed score and the psychological thriller genre.Item Two Generations of Contemporary Chinese Folk Ballad Minyao 1994-2017: Emergence, Mobility, and Marginal Middle Class(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2020) Gao, Yanxiazi; Lau, Frederick; MusicThis thesis explores two generations of contemporary Chinese minyao music (xiaoyuan minyao, 1994-1996 and xin minyao, 2005-2017). Originally, the term minyao was used in imperial China to refer to a type of folk entertainment, which focused on rhyming verbal expressions. But in a post-socialist context, minyao is now known as a genre of commercial popular music featuring western folk music and poetic Chinese lyrics. Over two generations, musical themes of minyao shifted from a focus on nostalgia and gentle romance to poetic self-expression and brutal criticisms of social issues. Accordingly, the tastes of minyao audiences shifted as well. By examining those shifts and China’s urbanization and population mobility, I argue that the second (current) generation of minyao audience draws from the marginal middle class, who see contemporary Chinese minyao as a symbol of good taste. I further argue that the second generation of minyao artists and audiences build their “sonic township” (O'Toole 2014; Kim 2016; Wang 2018) by singing and listening to minyao together in “live house” music clubs. The live house, as a sonic performing space, musically articulates the audience’s home origins and regional identities. The music of this “sonic township” is characterized by 1) the notion of wen as a civilized, refined, literary and feminine sophistication; and 2) a “feminine” style of singing (Moskowitz 2010; Baranovitch 2013). These two traditional qualities help define the aesthetics of minyao and its reception among audiences in current China. This thesis also attempts to combine aspects of gender and social class to discuss the regional identity and cultural attachments of contemporary minyao as a genre of popular music.Item Wakayama Ryū Edo Bayashi in the United States: intercultural history, transmission, authenticity, and relationship with contemporary taiko(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2019) Shibata, Sean; Lee, Byong Won; MusicThis thesis explores the history and significance of Wakayama Ryū Edo Bayashi as it relates to the broader musical performance art of taiko. Wakayama Ryū Edo Bayashi , or simply referred to as Edo Bayashi , is a musical repertoire of festival music that is taught and performed by the Wakayama Ryū, a school of traditional folk performing arts based in the shitamachi area of Tokyo. By examining the historical connections between practitioners of Edo Bayashi and the modern genre of kumidaiko , this thesis outlines the pathways that led to the transmission of Edo Bayashi to the United States and constructs an intercultural history of the music. Furthermore, the musical impact of Edo Bayashi on other taiko music is discussed through the analysis of taiko compositions that have borrowed musical materials from Edo Bayashi. Finally, this thesis examines the significance of the transmission of Edo Bayashi to the United States by exploring the theoretical possibilities that Edo Bayashi poses to the field of ethnomusicology via discourses of authenticity, nostalgia, and identity.Item Shizuko Akamine And The So-shin Kai: Perpetuating An Okinawan Music Tradition In A Multi-ethnic Community(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2018-12) Miyashiro, Darin Tokuo; Trimillos, Ricardo D.; MusicThis thesis examines the evolution of one of the oldest and longest running koto organizations in Hawai‘i based in the small town of Hilo on the island of Hawai‘i. Originally established in 1957 as an affinity group among the Okinawan diasporic community to accompany fellow Okinawan music and dance groups, the So-shin Kai evolved into an independent, multi-ethnic group performing iconic songs representing the various ethnicities that form the local community. The leader who implemented those changes, Shizuko Akamine, faced criticism and doubt. However, with innovative teaching methods she was able to successfully maintain student interest in the koto, and with a diverse repertory she was able to entertain as well as educate the greater community. While her methods may have been a concern among those hoping to preserve “tradition,” the So-shin Kai's evolution under Shizuko Akamine’s leadership ensured continuity of this koto group within the changing community of Hilo.Item Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford: Elevating the Female Voice in American Musical Theater(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2018-12) Kerns, Nancy Jane; McQuiston, Katherine; MusicABSTRACT Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, along with most other female creators of musicals, remain in the shadows, in spite of an increased focus by the media on women’s contributions to society. The messages of Cryer and Ford’s dramatic themes and songs have not been fully understood by many critics and audience members. Scholarly and popular writings on women in theater remain scarce, and literature on Cryer and Ford contains errors and promotes misunderstandings. In this thesis, I argue that Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, a writer and composer of musical theater respectively, tackled contemporary issues in their Broadway and off Broadway musicals, introduced new theatrical forms and musical genres to the stage, and have built a distinguished collaborative career and earned a meritorious position in musical theater heritage by incorporating these issues, in particular, those which pertain to women or those which affect women, into their works. I seek to correct and build upon extant writings and information from media resources. My thesis is the first monograph to detail the lives and works of Cryer and Ford, and to assess their contributions to the musical theater genre. My detailed case studies dissect several Cryer and Ford musicals, which speak directly to prominent images and ideas of the time, and reveal how their works emphasize the importance of interpersonal communication, and endorse humanism and, in particular, feminism. Cryer and Ford are trailblazers for other female musical writers, for whom they have advocated, and for whom I provide a comprehensive overview.