musician sociology
My research thesis on the connection between social class and the experience of musicians in the education market uses the sociological theory of capital as a framework to explore the literature on class, education, and artistic trajectories. The review of literature led me to determine that there is grounds for a closer, empirical examination of the effects of class, race, and gender on musicians’ labor market outcomes. A shortened sample of this project can be found here. I am currently enrolled to bring this work into a PhD program and hope to conduct an empirical study.
Visually Assisted Music
This project is an interdisciplinary investigation of a tool to help students with learning disabilities. Visually Assisted Music (VAM) is an adaptation of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), a tool used to help nonverbal autistic students communicate. I created templates that assist students not only in the music classroom, but with learning overall. A presentation with full literature review can be found here, with links to a demonstration of VAM using my templates.
Interactive deliberate practice
My review of the music education literature on real-time feedback in jazz improvisation classes allowed me to explore new avenues of assessing and involving students with their peers in real-time. The synthesized findings indicate that use of my proposed “Interactive Deliberate Practice” feedback loops could improve student learning in a group jazz improvisation class setting. A sample of the research paper and presentation can be found here.
Interdisciplinary ARt Collective
As an aspiring music professor, my vision is one of an arts department that collectively works with other departments to create a more collaborative approach to serve the community. Interaction between departments in a college setting is crucial to the successful integration of arts departments into their respective communities, especially in areas without a current local artistic scene. A sample grant proposal for the Hillsborough County Arts Council detailing a performance that included visual art and dance set to recorded original compositions can be found here.
The Holistic Musician
My musician lifestyles research project reviews the literature on life expectancy for musicians from different genres and their respective occupational hazards. I found that classical musicians have a higher lifespan than the general public on average, whereas rock and jazz musicians have lower lifespans. The occupational hazards for musicians are often physical injuries from playing, and lifestyle factors are not often assessed. Given the nature of performing as a jazz musician, I propose an empirical study to survey and interview working musicians about their lifestyle choices, including their sleep, eating habits, and wellness activities, and to examine how their work hours may or may not affect those choices. I also use this research to inform my presentation on improving musicians’ lifestyles, “The Holistic Musician.”