ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

How Music Travels: The Chamber Opera “Blood, Hunger, Child”

by

Jon Forshee

Doctor of Philosophy

University of California, San Diego, 2017

Professor Anthony Davis, Chair

Katharina Rosenberger, Co-Chair

The dissertation elaborates a narrative and an analysis of the compositional process of the chamber opera Blood Hunger Child. The narrative dimension of the dissertation identifies themes functional to the composition of the chamber opera. Because they are functional, these themes are positioned as indigenous to the libretto and to the music of the work. Subsequently these themes provide the foundation of an analysis that is presented as specific to as well as exegetical of the process of composition.

The dissertation first outlines the conceptual background of Blood Hunger Child, and identifies three themes as emergent during the process of composition: an engagement with Yoruban mythology, an investigation of musical unity, and narrative syncretism of Yoruban mythology and the characters of the opera. After the general presentation of each of these themes, an investigation of Esu, the trickster of Yoruban mythology is presented, an understanding of musical unity is given, and a discovery of narrative and musical synthesis is outlined and proposed.

The musical score of Blood Hunger Child accompanies the dissertation as the realization of the process and the themes discussed in the text.

A Mess of Things is a new documentary music-play conceived, composed, written, directed and performed by Adam Tinkle. It combines documentary audio of the creator's family, especially his grandfather, Ben Seltzman. Debuted April 1 at the Experimental Theater in the Conrad Prebys Music Center, the piece was audio and video recorded and a documentation is on file in the Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.

The text attached is an artist statement describing the genesis of A Mess of Things, including the creator's process of collecting the documentary audio for the performance, conceiving its form and crafting many of its sections and components. The statement focuses on the creator's efforts to forge a hybrid aesthetics combining radio art, experimental music and direct storytelling.

Invisible People (A Radio Opera) is a studio composition that integrates text-ljud komposition, musique concrète, acoustic improvisation, visual media, and live performance to communicate an essay on homophobia within the African American community. The audio and video documentation of the composition performances are housed in the Mandeville Special Collections Library at UCSD.

This text begins with an explanation of the author's motivation behind the project, segues to a brief history of radio opera, and concludes with an artist's statement on the creative process, production, and performance history.

This is a written defense of Destination Freedom, a radio opera and narrative soundscape composition that begins in the cargo hold of a ship trafficking Africans to the Americas and traverses time in search of freedom. Narrative soundscape composition is a classification of electroacoustic music and a research method used to engage historical events and social issues; it is a way to bridge creative practice and scholarship. Radio opera is a type of electroacoustic composition designed to be experienced in darkness in order to animate the theatre of the mind and, as such, borrows strategies for immersion from American radio drama. This text begins with an autoethnographic account of how narrative soundscape composition became my primary praxis followed by an explanation of radio drama as a model for using text, darkness, and spatialization in electroacoustic composition. After a description and analysis of Destination Freedom, the conclusion suggests broader applications for narrative soundscape composition beyond my personal practice.

The opera Helwalker was recorded October 22-24, 2021 at the UCSD Recording Studio, and edited to create an audio drama as the culmination of a major composition work by the author. New musical techniques such as increased rhythmic complexity, use of polyrhythms and harmonies inspired by a Charles Mingus study combined with previous musical influences of Appalachian folk, Balinese and Javanese gamelan, Norwegian metal, and eastern European musical traditions to create the underlying musical landscape. Narrative and conceptual elements devised by the author focused on nature, decay and renewal, with reference to climate change and issues of mental health. A visual component is included: forest creature origami creations by Alex Taylor for the final song, Decomposition, and following this, photographs of the places in West Virginia which inspired the opera. All of these research and creative processes were integral in weaving together the final recorded performance.

The Shiraz Arts Festival was an annual weeklong summer festival that ran from 1967 to 1977 in and around the city of Shiraz, Iran. Subsidized by the Iranian government and spearheaded by Queen Farah Pahlavi, this international festival presented contemporary, classical, traditional, and avant-garde music, theater, and dance from all over the world. Organized around the goals of raising the cultural standard in Iran, celebrating Iranian traditions, and familiarizing Iranians with the latest international artistic developments, this event promoted the sharing of culturally democratic values and the representation of a balanced Iranian national identity. At the same time, because of certain controversies surrounding the Festival, critics and historians have placed it in the context of the 1979 Iranian Revolution where opposition led by the Ayatollah Khomeini replaced the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s monarchical government. This dissertation investigates and details the Festival’s relationship with cultural democracy, Iranian identity, and the revolutionary narrative. The Festival encouraged democratic values by allowing new artistic freedoms, calling for multicultural inclusivity, granting access to the masses, and inspiring intercultural collaborations. Certain performances, such as concerts of traditional Iranian music, exhibited several sides of Iranian identity. Young musicians inserted a modern sound into the tradition, while engaging with both Iran’s ancient pre-Islamic history and Islamic spiritualism. Additionally, the Festival echoed a failing government in its embrace of the Western avant-garde and Western imitation, and in its financial expenditure during a time of intensifying wealth inequality. Furthermore, related controversies were utilized to fit a campaign of dissent. My writing reveals how potentially conflicting ideas and identities aided in creating a unique and unprecedented cultural event. Ultimately, the Festival proved that cultural democracy and Iranian identity were fundamental to Iranian performance and the arts could continue to be a place for reflecting on social issues within a decentralized public space.

Background: HIV infection has been shown to be high among military personnel in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, research has shown inconsistent condom use is common in African military populations. In an effort to determine the prevalence of HIV, quantify condom use, and investigate correlates of condom use, a cross-sectional seroprevalence study was implemented in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). Recent condom use behaviors and correlates of low condom use were also assessed.

Methods: From October 2013-April 2014, 2,701 sexually-active FARDC soldiers, aged 19-83, participated in the study. Participants from 30 military sites were administered a survey via personal interview by a trained FARDC counselor. The survey collected information on demographics, military characteristics, and HIV risk behaviors such as condom use.

Results: The seroprevalence of HIV was 3.5%. After adjustment, primary risk factors associated with HIV infection included: not being married, multiple regular partners in the past 12 months, screening positive for PTSD, and testing positive for active syphilis infection (p<0.05). After stratification by region, participants in the Eastern region were found to have the highest HIV prevalence at 5.1%. HIV testing frequency was also found to be associated with HIV infection, with participants who reported ≤1 test since joining the military being more than three times more likely to test positive. Furthermore, 85% of male participants reported rarely/never using condoms. Lower condom use was associated with condom accessibility, reduced sexual pleasure, trust issues with condoms, negative attitudes towards condoms, and lower knowledge of HIV prevention and transmission.

Conclusions: The HIV prevalence in the FARDC is about three times higher than the general population, indicating a concentrated epidemic. HIV prevention interventions aimed at increasing condom use in the FARDC should address issues of accessibility and trust. The FARDC should consider providing scented condoms and reinforce the importance of correct and consistent condom use. Results suggest that a mental health program focused on PTSD and a syphilis awareness and treatment campaign would be beneficial to the FARDC. Routine HIV testing should also be implemented in the FARDC.

Coping Mechanisms is a one act chamber opera by Bonnie Lander commissioned by Rhymes With Opera in 2015 for their 2017 spring main stage production. The piece is written specifically for the Rhymes With Opera singers, including Lander, Elisabeth Halliday, and Robert Maril with the intent of teaching Halliday and Maril how to perform free improvisation. Two experiments were being explored from this work: 1) how does one combine free improvisation with classical opera 2) how does one teach opera singers to improvise?

These two questions marked the beginning of a two year workshopping process that culminated with the premier of this eerie, abstract, and engaging opera. This paper describes the narrative and conceptual structures that gave this piece shape, the style of improvisation that resulted, as well as information about the process and success of the piece.