Abstracts for papers presented at the 2009 WMEA Music Research Poster Session are available below. For more information about each paper, or to request a copy, please contact these researchers.

A Longitudinal Study of Backgrounds, Attitudes, and Beliefs of Graduating Seniors in the Music Program of the Appleton Area School District
Jon B. Gilliland
WMEA President

This longitudinal study suggests that it is possible to collect – via student surveys - data that provide parents and educators with a “profile” of a successful music student. Since 2003, graduating seniors in band, choir, and orchestra in the Appleton Area School District have been surveyed regarding their participation in the school music program.  Does participation in high school music ensembles really prepare students for life, as music educators often claim?  Are music students academically stronger than other students?  What benefits do students feel they have received through their high school music program?  The data suggest that, in comparison to their peers, who did not complete 4 years of music in high school, these students:

• report having higher GPAs and score higher on college entrance tests than their peers,
• expect to attend a college or university,
• come from homes/families that value music,
• describe very positive experiences in their HS music program, and
• recognize that participation in music prepares them for careers both in and outside of music.

This study reflects a program of data collection and analysis that is accessible by any music educator in any school district and could have substantial effects on music education advocacy in the local district and community.


Across America: Histories of Sound
Merrin Guice
Milwaukee College Preparatory School

What is a pleasant choral sound?  Should the choir perform with no vibrato? Is it appropriate for an entire choir to apply the “Bel canto” technique? And how does one change the vocal timbre of an entire group of singers to perform with historically correct performance practice?

While choral conductors across the country have answers to these various questions, what has American performance practice at college choirs throughout history demonstrated, to the practicing choral performer?  I have found that some ensembles tend to historically prefer a particular sound: straighter tone, heavy vibrato, or forward and bright. By closely examining choral groups in three representative colleges – Harvard in the east, St. Olaf College in the Midwest, and Morehouse College in the south- I hope to demonstrate that the histories of the institutions, their cultures, and the leaders of the ensembles have had an influence on performance practice, sound and repertoire. In this research I demonstrate how any choir can apply the techniques demonstrated by the various groups to achieve a particular sound.  I assert that there is no “right” way, but different conductors have given us tools to affect how various repertoires are performed.