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Saiki_Dissertation_May 29.pdf (5.9 MB)

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The Vocalizing Pianist: Embodying Gendered Performance

Saiki, Michiko
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1493714783458806

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), Bowling Green State University, Contemporary Music.
The vocalizing pianist is a genre in which the pianist speaks, sings, and/or acts while playing the piano. Because of the presence of the voice, the audience perceives the performer’s sex and gender not only visually, but also aurally as part of performance. The voice connects the audience to the performer intimately, revealing the normative conceptions and gender ideologies inscribed on the performer’s body. Because the vocalizing pianist compositions specify neither the performer’s gender nor the voice type, cross-gender, cross-identity performance have been freely undertaken without an established performance practice. Although such gendered performances are common in vocal genres, pianists are now entering this unfamiliar field with the emergence of the vocalizing pianist genre. As a step toward an interpretive performance practice, this document investigates the role of the performer’s voice, body, and gender, by reading the genre through the lens of feminism. Feminist theories such as gender performativity and l’écriture féminine are introduced and applied to case studies of selected compositions: Amy Beth Kirsten’s (speak to me), Brian Ferneyhough’s Opus Contra Naturam, and Stuart Saunders Smith’s Lazarus. Using the concept of the Death of the Author by Roland Barthes, the author also explores the performer-centric interpretative practice that emphasizes the centrality of gender in musical performance. This project articulates the importance of performer’s gender as an integral element of vocalizing pianist performance and demonstrates how understanding the gendered aspect of a composition adds greater depth and nuance to the performer’s interpretation.
Thomas Rosenkranz (Advisor)
Nora Engebretsen (Committee Member)
Mikel Kuehn (Committee Member)
Sidra Lawrence (Committee Member)
Mihai Staic (Committee Member)
123 p.
Gender; Music; Performing Arts
feminism; gender; vocalizing pianist; speaking pianist; gender performativity; ecriture feminine; the Death of the Author; Amy Beth Kirsten; Brian Ferneyhough; Stuart Saunders Smith; contemporary music; musical performance;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Saiki, M. (2017). The Vocalizing Pianist: Embodying Gendered Performance [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1493714783458806

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Saiki, Michiko. The Vocalizing Pianist: Embodying Gendered Performance. 2017. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1493714783458806.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Saiki, Michiko. "The Vocalizing Pianist: Embodying Gendered Performance." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1493714783458806

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1493714783458806
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.