Journal of Undergraduate Research

Caitlin Johnson and Professor Alexander Woods, Music I began my project with two purposes: to compile a history of the evolution of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, including the compositional process, premiere history, different editions, and performance tradition; and to synthesize that research in an informed performance of the concerto. The Tchaikovsky […]

Sydney Howard and Dr. Claudine Bigelow, Music For my project, I did extensive research on viola pedagogue, Karen Tuttle. Even after her passing, Ms. Tuttle remains an important influence in the fields of viola pedagogy and modern viola playing. She taught some of todays most influential viola professors, and through their teaching, Ms. Tuttle’s legacy […]

Meredith Ryan Taylor and Dr. David Sargent, Music Abinadi, at the time of this report, has not been completed. Originally the opera was intended to be finished with an orchestration requiring soloists, chorus and a small instrumental ensemble of not more than twenty players. Early on in the process of writing, Dr. Lawrence Vincent (head […]

Nicole Okeson and Professor David Day, HBLL Special Collections I began my ORCA research studying the a book of etudes written by the composer Saverio Mercadante. We had done research and found that this particular book of etudes had not been published and felt that it would be a valuable book to publish. In studying the […]

Christopher Machado and Dr. Ronald Staheli, School of Music The collection of choral rehearsal strategies used in the choirs at BYU has been an enlightening project. I have discovered and documented many effective pedagogical tools, methods, buzzwords, imageries, and vocalises. New possibilities for the project have opened up as well, which will allow me to […]

Andrew Jensen and Dr. Steven Ricks, Music Introduction The harmonic series is one of the most fundamental or foundational elements of musical harmony. The relationships between elements in this series explain why certain chords appeal to the human ear while others do not. My ORCA project involved creating a software synthesizer that uses the tones […]

Brady Bills and Dr. Larry Green Over the last semester and summer I have been developing a modern guitar method book. I have been consulting with Larry Green (my faculty mentor) as well as reading many different guitar method books. I came to find that the reason why many of the method books were failing […]

Angela Barlow and Dr. Steven Ricks, Associate Professor, BYU School of Music I will never forget hearing the first few notes of Symphonie Fantastique played by the Orchestre de Paris during my music study abroad stay in Paris. However, it isn’t just the first few notes of the Symphonie that I will always remember, it […]

P. J. Woolston and Dr. Christian Smith, Music Because of the emphasis on performance in the BYU School of Music, a student’s most important tool, the instrument itself, is often grossly neglected. Woodwind instruments are particularly susceptible to deterioration. As keys are repeatedly pressed and manipulated, instrumental noise (the clicks and squeaks of keys interacting […]