Composing cultural sustenance: a pianist’s case study in new Chicago chamber music for collective climate processing

Miller, Cacie

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121758 Copy

Description

Title

Composing cultural sustenance: a pianist’s case study in new Chicago chamber music for collective climate processing

Author(s)

Miller, Cacie

Issue Date

2023

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Takao, Makoto Harris

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Moersch, Charlotte Mattax

Committee Member(s)

• Bashford, Christina
• Robards, Casey

Department of Study

School of Music

Discipline

Music

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

A.Mus.D. (doctoral)

Keyword(s)

• Climate Change
• Ecomusicology
• Chamber Music
• Samuel Sharp
• Shi-An Costello
• Musicking
• Dan Galat
• Kelly Quesada
• Dana DeBofsky

Language

eng

Abstract

This thesis explores one approach to integrating composition and chamber music performance with a collective emotional processing of climate change. Grounded in Chicago, it centers on two ethnographic case studies of newly commissioned chamber works for piano and strings by local composers Shi-An Costello (b. 1987) and Samuel Sharp (b. 1983). Constructed through composer interviews, score study, and performance notes, this thesis offers background information on each composer, a summary of the ways in which they understand and process climate change, and an unpacking of how they seek to approach this phenomenon through their music. The resulting work discusses themes of mourning, apocalypse, nostalgia, escapism, and consumerism in the face of rising temperatures and sea levels. Discussion is given to the strengths and limitations of music as a modality for conveying these themes. Costello and Sharp approach their responses to climate change in vastly different ways, with one seeking to evoke an imagined musical landscape while the other musically represents human musical achievement and ponders its decay and erosion. The thesis concludes with a reflection on the preparation and reception of the premiere performances of these works, connecting ways that compositional practices and performance practices alike can be similarly expanded in an effort to culturally sustain communities as they grapple with the reality of climate change.

Type of Resource

text

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Cacie Miller

Owning Collections