CURRENT RESEARCH

Concord Sonata by Charles Ives: Performance Manual & Reception for Experimental Music

* This lecture recital will be presented at the Fifty-first National Conference of The College Music Society at Atlanta Marquis Hotel, Atlanta, GA, September 25th through 28th, 2008

* This lecture recital will be presented at the Pacific Central/Pacific Southern Super Regional Conference of The College Music Society at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA, March 14th through 16th, 2008

* This lecture recital will be presented at the Rocky Mountain/Pacific Northwest SuperRegional Conference of The College Music Society at The University of Montana in Missoula, Missoula, MT, April 10-13, 2008.

abstract:
Concord Sonata by Charles Ives has been widely recognized as one of the most innovative modern piano pieces composed in 20th century for its uniqueness and complexity.  At the same time, this contemporary piece has been known as one of the hardest pieces to play. 

The most distinct problem raised in playing this piece is that notations Ives used are very complicated and unclear.  Unlike traditional composers, he doesn’t clearly direct performer to play the piece.  For the flexibility of playing, he said, “Concord Sonata is changeable depending on the mood or circumstance. This freedom of playing bears the improvisational possibility.”  Furthermore, experimental keyboard techniques Ives used make the piece even harder to play.  Interestingly, Ives provides performers Essay Before A Sonata.  This essay consists Emerson, Hawthorne, The Alcott, and Thoreau, which related to four movements in the piece and reflects Ives’s transcendentalism.

Throughout the presentation, efficient performance approaches for Concord Sonata will be addressed and demonstrated.  Individual movements in the piece will be interpreted according to Essay Before A Sonata: the genesis of the essay and Ives’ suggestions in his own performance notes will be acknowledged.  Many pianists have acknowledged that this piece is almost unplayable, yet this presentation will share possible guidance to play the piece.

Along with the technicality and interpretation of the piece, the reception side of this experimental piece will be addressed in terms of Comprovisation and Structuralism.  Also, how this piece could be understood, or received by both performer and listeners will be addressed.

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How students these days behave online and how it affects their college performance

* This is part of Wisconsin Teaching Fellow Program. I have been selected as Alternate Wisconsin Teaching Fellow of University of Wisconsin, Platteville for 2008-2009

abstract:
As media theorist, I have been interested in how mass media have affected generation next and how their behavior online, especially on online communities such as myspace.com and facebook.com, reflects the nature of their existence in postmodern time.  In terms of college education, students are easily distracted in classroom since there are so many activities they can participate online.  Traditionally, college educators have worked hard to quarantine students from physical activities, such as drinking.  Now, educators have to think about how to protect students from harmful contents online.  However, it is getting harder to guide students because teacher’s authority has been challenged by the information-rich Internet: generation next tends to believe that they can get all the information they need online, and educators now have to compete with other sources of information.  To serve our students better, these patterns of behavior observed in college education need to be studied and analyzed.  And, I’d like to take this opportunity to study subject matters mentioned above both quantatively and qualitatively.

Possible Teaching and Learning Question:

Question Set I.

Goal:
* Help students fully focus on study material while having a class in computer lab.
* Help students easily lead students to follow course materials without being disturbed by unnecessary computer usage.
Problem:
* Students check their email during the class in computer lab.
* Students check their online community sites, such as myspace.com and facebook.com during the class in computer lab.
* Keyboard sound and mouse clicks disrupt the class.
Questions:
* How does students’ usage of online communities, such as myspace.com and facebook.com affect classroom performance, and how could it be controlled in computer lab?

Question Set II.

Goal:
* Help students fully utilize online communities, such as myspace.com and facebook.com as a tool to promote 
* Convert students’ usage of online communities, such as myspace.com and facebook.com to positive learning process for globalization and diversity.
Problem:
* Online communities, such as myspace.com and facebook.com have widely spread on college campuses, and they disturb students’ classroom performance.
* Students’ infatuation with online communities, such as myspace.com and facebook.com takes too much time from their study, and it jeopardizes their college life.
* It is hard to control what students do with their computer, and it is nearly impossible to ban students’ computer use on campus due to their excessive usage of online communities, such as myspace.com and facebook.com.
Questions:
* What are patterns of students’ computer usage on online communities such as myspace.com and facebook.com, and how can educators convert these patterns to something positive and productive?