Journal of Undergraduate Research

Zach Froelich and Faculty Mentor: Jeremy Grimshaw, School of Music This project began with a simple idea; what elements are important in representing other culture’s music and do we overlook certain elements because of our cultural biases? I wanted to see what would happen if I merged the quintessentially Western instrument, the piano, with the […]

Megumi Terry and Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw, Department of Music Introduction As a classically trained violinist, having studied since the age of four, I have had an unlikely fascination with other world music cultures. In the summer of 2015 I had the opportunity to live in India and explore the culture and come to […]

Kaia Rose and Faculty Mentor: Brittany May PhD., Department of Music Introduction: Shortly after beginning my music studies at Brigham Young University, I began to struggle with overuse injury that made it difficult to play my instrument. Conversations with fellow BYU music majors over the past few years revealed that music related injuries seem to […]

Christian Tran and Faculty Mentor: Geralyn Giovannetti, Woodwind Performance Introduction Music has always been an important part of Vietnamese culture. The many traditional music styles dotting the coastal country have remained stamps of cultural authenticity and a source of pride to the natives of each region. As the country was occupied by France, and later […]

Pearce Nitta and Faculty Mentor: David Brown, College of Fine Arts and Communications Introduction In the world of performing arts, instruments often malfunction, preventing the performer from playing the instrument. This malfunction can be a simple fix that the performer may know how to fix, but more often than not, these damages to the instrument […]

Student: Dallas Crane Mentor: Ray Smith, Commercial Music Introduction Johnny Williams (well known in the film world as John Williams) created a masterful record, Rhythm in Motion, in 1961. Though not well received commercially, it is a powerful testament of the creativity that flowed through Hollywood and jazz. I studied two scores from this album, […]

Dallin Baldwin and Faculty Mentor: Don Cook, Department of Music The purpose of my research was to better understand the choral accompaniment techniques of English organists. Most of the choral music that is performed in the United States today is accompanied by the piano. Yet there are great choral masterpieces that are neglected because there […]

Emmaline Sanders and Faculty Mentor: Aaron Merril, Commercial Music While many students apply for an ORCA grant to fund scientific research or, in the case of other Commercial Music majors, technical audio application, I wanted to complete a project that was purely artistic. My emphasis has always been in classical concert composition first and foremost, […]

Haley Gammon and Luke Howard, Music History Stefan Kisielewski – writer, publicist, politician, and composer – not only lost many of his works as a result of the Second World War, but was controlled under Soviet censorship many years after it. Today there is a current surge of excitement and opportunity to uncover missing information […]