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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (8 results)

  • Thesis
  • Peer Reviewed
UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2017)

In October of 1960, Jackson Mac Low created a system for generating poems called Asymmetries. The system evolved from his earlier chance poems to create a situation where poems could be “self-generating.” Over time, the system itself evolved, generating poems of endlessly varying content, each with its own self-contained features that could be translated into performance. These features were described in detail by Mac Low in his instructions for performance. However, like his poem-generating system, these instructions also evolved over time.

Mac Low’s Asymmetries can be approached from many vantage points: as a reader, listener, performer; through a solo performance or simultaneity; through the original or evolved instructions; or through Mac Low’s copious documentation. Exploring these vantage points generates an evolution in one’s understanding of the poems and their openness or limits in the context of the many formats in which they can be realized.

Where are the limits to Mac Low’s extraordinarily contingent compositional and performance scenarios? How do Mac Low’s countless performance scenarios impact the work’s identity? Mac Low’s creative processes pulled at the boundaries of the poem/score and show how a work can exist as a complex and evolving system that can have both clear boundaries and limitless possibilities.

    Cover page: from nothingness and going: Jackson Mac Low’s Numbered Asymmetries
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2018)

    This dissertation will examine four works for multiple cellos prepared over the course of my doctoral studies. The works are: Tashi Wada Duets: September 2006, March 2007, April 2007, February 2008 (2006-08), La Monte Young The Melodic Version of the The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer from The Four Dreams of China (1984), Alvin Lucier One Arm Bandits (2016), and Anthea Caddy and Judith Hamann Untitled (2015-18).

    An explication and discussion of four key characteristics - the dialectic of material and action, the works’ unfolding in time, multiplication of bodies, and unison - will guide and illustrate how these works become cast as pieces which are realization specific, that is, works that only reveal their form in performance, informed by dialectical material, present moment responsiveness, and secondary material generated through the relationships between each characteristic. This paper will suggest that these key properties are crucial in repositioning the pieces in a particular space within the composition and performance paradigm.

      Cover page: Double, Sync, Constellate: Realization Specific Works for More Than One Cello
      • Thesis
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2023)

      Luigi Dallapiccola is a composer of the 20th century noted for a unique perspective of dodecaphonic technique. In this writing, I will investigate his early cello work “Ciaccona, Intermezzo, e Adagio” (1945) through structural and harmonic analysis. Each of the three movements features unique formal concepts and employments of a 12-tone row, somewhat dissimilar between movements and quite unique in comparison to other composers of 12-tone music. After a chronological scrutiny of major sections of each movement, interpretative and cellistic demands will be pondered in order to result in a theoretically engaged and informed successful performance.

        Cover page: “CHARACTERISTICS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA’S TWELVE-TONE WRITING IN CIACCONA, INTERMEZZO, E ADAGIO”
        • Thesis
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2013)

        ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

        Six New and Recent Works for Solo Cello in Recording and Discussion

        by Ashley Melynda Walters

        Doctor of Musical Arts in Contemporary Music Performance

        University of California, San Diego, 2013

        Professor Charles Curtis, Chair

        The focus of this dissertation project was on the learning, performance, and recording of six works for solo cello: Sequenza XIV by Luciano Berio, Plainsound-Litany by Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Another Secular Calvinist Creed by Andrew McIntosh, Sweet Bay Magnolia with Berry Clusters by Wadada Leo Smith, For Stephanie (on our wedding day) by Nicholas Deyoe, and another anxiety by Nicholas Deyoe. The following writing serves as a supporting document to this project, concentrating on the collaborations between the author and Schweinitz, McIntosh, Smith, and Deyoe. This paper will address the variations in the collaborative process with each composer, commenting on how the dedication of the piece to the author affected the inspiration for writing the piece and the notation, where relevant. In addition, the influence of the collaborative process on the author's interpretation of each piece will be discussed. Finally, where applicable, these aspects and their influence on the listening experience will be addressed.

        • 5 supplemental audio files
        • 1 supplemental ZIP
        Cover page: Six New and Recent Works for Solo Cello in Recording and Discussion
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UCLA Previously Published Works (2018)
        Psychiatric disorders are thought to have a complex genetic pathology consisting of interplay of common and rare variation. Traditionally, pedigrees are used to shed light on the latter only, while here we discuss the application of polygenic risk scores to also highlight patterns of common genetic risk. We analyze polygenic risk scores for psychiatric disorders in a large pedigree (n ~ 260) in which 30% of family members suffer from major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. Studying patterns of assortative mating and anticipation, it appears increased polygenic risk is contributed by affected individuals who married into the family, resulting in an increasing genetic risk over generations. This may explain the observation of anticipation in mood disorders, whereby onset is earlier and the severity increases over the generations of a family. Joint analyses of rare and common variation may be a powerful way to understand the familial genetics of psychiatric disorders.
          Cover page: Applying polygenic risk scoring for psychiatric disorders to a large family with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorderCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC San Francisco Previously Published Works (2016)
          To elucidate the genetic architecture of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and find associated loci, we assembled a custom imputation reference panel from whole-genome-sequenced patients with ALS and matched controls (n = 1,861). Through imputation and mixed-model association analysis in 12,577 cases and 23,475 controls, combined with 2,579 cases and 2,767 controls in an independent replication cohort, we fine-mapped a new risk locus on chromosome 21 and identified C21orf2 as a gene associated with ALS risk. In addition, we identified MOBP and SCFD1 as new associated risk loci. We established evidence of ALS being a complex genetic trait with a polygenic architecture. Furthermore, we estimated the SNP-based heritability at 8.5%, with a distinct and important role for low-frequency variants (frequency 1-10%). This study motivates the interrogation of larger samples with full genome coverage to identify rare causal variants that underpin ALS risk.
            Cover page: Genome-wide association analyses identify new risk variants and the genetic architecture of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UCLA Previously Published Works (2021)
            Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with a lifetime risk of one in 350 people and an unmet need for disease-modifying therapies. We conducted a cross-ancestry genome-wide association study (GWAS) including 29,612 patients with ALS and 122,656 controls, which identified 15 risk loci. When combined with 8,953 individuals with whole-genome sequencing (6,538 patients, 2,415 controls) and a large cortex-derived expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) dataset (MetaBrain), analyses revealed locus-specific genetic architectures in which we prioritized genes either through rare variants, short tandem repeats or regulatory effects. ALS-associated risk loci were shared with multiple traits within the neurodegenerative spectrum but with distinct enrichment patterns across brain regions and cell types. Of the environmental and lifestyle risk factors obtained from the literature, Mendelian randomization analyses indicated a causal role for high cholesterol levels. The combination of all ALS-associated signals reveals a role for perturbations in vesicle-mediated transport and autophagy and provides evidence for cell-autonomous disease initiation in glutamatergic neurons.
              Cover page: Common and rare variant association analyses in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identify 15 risk loci with distinct genetic architectures and neuron-specific biologyCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UCLA Previously Published Works (2022)
              Schizophrenia has a heritability of 60-80%1, much of which is attributable to common risk alleles. Here, in a two-stage genome-wide association study of up to 76,755 individuals with schizophrenia and 243,649 control individuals, we report common variant associations at 287 distinct genomic loci. Associations were concentrated in genes that are expressed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the central nervous system, but not in other tissues or cell types. Using fine-mapping and functional genomic data, we identify 120 genes (106 protein-coding) that are likely to underpin associations at some of these loci, including 16 genes with credible causal non-synonymous or untranslated region variation. We also implicate fundamental processes related to neuronal function, including synaptic organization, differentiation and transmission. Fine-mapped candidates were enriched for genes associated with rare disruptive coding variants in people with schizophrenia, including the glutamate receptor subunit GRIN2A and transcription factor SP4, and were also enriched for genes implicated by such variants in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identify biological processes relevant to schizophrenia pathophysiology; show convergence of common and rare variant associations in schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders; and provide a resource of prioritized genes and variants to advance mechanistic studies.
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