Fine Arts

Presenter: Hyrum Kohler, College of Fine Arts and Communications, Music

Presenter: Francesca DeMartino, School of the Arts, Dance Department

Presenter: Paige Stephenson, College of Fine Arts, Music

Presenter: Tressa Messenger, College of Engineering & Technology, Architecture and Engineering Design

Presenter: Alan Chavez, College of Fine Arts, Department of Music

Presenter: Kirsten Barker, Caine College of the Arts, Music

Presenter: Hunter Huffman, College of Engineering and Technology, Architecture and Engineering

Presenter: McKelynn Barber, College of the Arts, Dance

Presenter: Gianna Patchett, Caine College of the Arts, Music

Presenter: Paige Cox, College of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology, Interior Design

Presenter: Cassidy Blackham, School of the Arts, Dance

Presenter: Lia Jenson, College of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology, Interior Design

Presenter: Alexander Coberly, School of the Arts, Art & Design

Presenter: Kallianne Young, College of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology, Interior Design

Presenter: Sophie Stephens, School of the Arts, Art and Design

Presenter: Rebecca Goates, College of Education, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

Presenter: Mallory Bouchard, The College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology, Interior Design

Presenter: Derek Stevens, College of Architecture and Engineering Design, Architecture

Presenter: Lane Swenson, University College, Student Leadership and Success Studies

Hannah Waddel, University of Utah

Rebecca Penn-Pierson, Utah Valley University

Arden Laga, Utah Valley University

Summer Perez, Brigham Young University

Barker, Kirsten; Wheeler Roderer, Laurana (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Scheer, Christopher (Caine College of the Arts, Music Department)

The collaborative nature of music, where individual action is essential to the success of the whole, provides a model which can affect viewpoints on climate change. This model has already been utilized in global environmentalist movements such as Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future. The collaborative approach taken in the creation of new pieces of music can be used to address climate change. We commissioned a chamber opera for three voices and string quartet that addresses the systemic issues surrounding the global climate emergency. The topic of our presentation will be the collaborative process involved in this project, specifically how we have reconciled the abstract nature of music and the technical jargon associated with scientific concepts.

Opera can highlight and expound on the dramatic message of a text and also enhance its emotional undercurrent. For centuries, the powerful and elite considered opera to be a “high art” form because of these communicative abilities. By turning this context on its head, we used the genre to comment on the consumption-based systems that have led to and perpetuated our current climate crisis. This is especially relevant given the traditionally close ties between the fossil fuel industry and the fine arts in the United States (for example, the long sponsorship of New York’s Metropolitan Opera by Exxon-Mobil). In focusing on the idea of collaboration, this new piece of music becomes an exemplar of the efforts required to create a sustainable world.

Ackerman, Kristin (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisory: Soukhakian, Fazilat (Caine College of the Arts, Art and Design Department)

This project showcases unity between homemakers and women in the work force. I photographed women from all over Utah with different lifestyles to create a series that showcases the identity, power, and impact that womanhood has. Examining the natural qualities in women that unite them while also recognizing them each to have a unique set of strengths. During this process I photographed and interviewed women of different beliefs, backgrounds, ethnicities, age, and occupation in order to let them tell their story and understand what empowers them. This project goes beyond the empowerment of working women or homemakers, it allows all women to stand together as a community and union empowered in their identity celebrating their strengths.

Trounce, Mitch (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Smith-Johnson, Amber (Utah Valley University, English)

I've noticed an increasing number of people wearing articles of clothing that sport the name of companies that focus on an entirely different product. It's funny and interesting to me seeing people so fixated on wearing a vintage Pepsi or Marlboro jacket. My art piece is my foot in the door to this trend of wearing non clothing brands as a form of fashion. I want to further explore this idea by creating an entire portfolio of faux non clothing brands.

Willes, Bailey (Westminster College)
Faculty Advisor: Kruback, Matt (Westminister College, Arts and Sciences)

Crude concentrates on the naturally occurring tar seeps at Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake. This is the site of past fossil fuel drilling, and recently of scientific research. Though capped after drilling ended, the seeps continue to affect the natural environment. Research on the seeps attempts to understand their behavior as well as the relationship that we have with them. Similarly, the physical production of Crude explores the processes by which we connect to the earth through dependence and the subsequent vulnerability that this creates due to volatility. Scientific inquiries are posited abstractly through the process of creation and working with varying viscosities and mediums, focusing on dilution and impurities – all of which achieve different textural results. The utilization of found objects from the seeps was integral to recall the historic and nostalgic, tying the stoicism of the seeps past with familiarity and personal memory. Dependence and comfort are dichotomized with the enigmatic threat of natural forces, and the destruction caused by the seeps is of expressed interest in this creation.

Marissa Devey (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisors: Vigneault, Marissa (Caine College of the Arts, Art and Design Department); Winward, Robert (Caine College of the Arts, Art and Design Department)

To those of us who are privileged enough to pad ourselves from the immediate consequences of global climate change, its reality remains an abstract and intangible problem. In the tropical cloud forests of Costa Rica, however, the effects of global warming are readily evident. My research aims to provide a narrative of climate change in the uniquely diverse and delicate cloud forest ecosystem, where I work in partnership with Ph.D. ecology student Jessica Murray. While Jessica uses sensors and datasets to quantify an intricate network of plants, animals, and microorganisms, my intent is to help non-scientists to visualize the implications of Jessica’s findings. My purpose is not to simplify or re-tell Jessica’s research, but to help the viewer connect with unfamiliar, abstract ideas in a visceral, internal way. I leverage paint, poetry, infographics, and abstraction to construct a metaphor for climate ecology: the human body. Working within this metaphor allows me to channel the viewer’s own physical, bodily experiences into an intimate portrait of ecological systems and their vulnerability to climate change. My goal is for viewers to become more conscious of their own ecology-- more aware of their dependence on the environment and more compassionate towards its components.

Richardson, Harriet (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: George, Daniel (Brigham Young University, Photography)

I am a Utah woman studying photography, and therefore many of my subjects are also Utah women. As I have gotten to research, interact with, and create art with so many unique women, I have come to learn of their stories and experiences. Woman are not only beautiful, but strong and capable beyond comprehension. In my little corner of Utah, many people come and go and presence can be fleeting. Despite this, the similarity between all these women, including myself, is that no matter how much or how little time we spend here, Utah becomes a part of our story and our womanhood. What we learn here, who we meet here, what we create here comes together to enhance us as individuals and the community as a whole. Whether it be through politics, arts, family, or just general life experience – being a Utah women sticks with us and our stories.

Patchett, Gianna (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisory: Bayless, Anne (Caine College of the Arts, Music Department)

The definition for the word “inspiration” is ever changing and has various meanings depending on the individual, culture, and time period. My goal is to compare the ideas about inspiration from the 19th century and the modern day. As an example of this I will look at Johannes Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor and, using what I have learned about inspiration, search for possible sources of inspiration for that particular composition. I will also discuss the way in which this research influenced my own interpretation and performance of the work.

Paraso, Raven (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Banchero-Kelleher, Angie (Utah Valley Univeristy, Dance)

A critical analysis of Dreams by Anna Sokolow from a psychoanalytical perspective, focusing on Freud’s Dream Theory, will demonstrate how the Holocaust played a role on the unconscious of Sokolow and her chorographic choices.
On January 30, 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. In America around the same time, a Jewish dancer named Anna Sokolow was making a name for herself in the dance community. This research will demonstrate how the Holocaust had an impact on Sokolow’s unconscious and her chorographic choices in her work titled Dreams. The psychoanalytical perspective, specifically Dream Theory invokes the idea that the unconscious can influence and motivate behavior through dreams without the conscious mind being aware. Anna Sokolow’s unconscious could have been affected by the events of the Holocaust, which could have influenced her to create Dreams without her conscious mind knowing what Dreams is truly about. Anna Sokolow’s unconscious mind could have been affected by the Holocaust because she is a Jew living during a time of Genocide to her people. Dreams was choreographed by Anna Sokolow with the original intent of showing the horrors people see in their dreams because she was experiencing terrifying dreams at the time. She was unaware of the underlying meaning of these dreams until later when she realized her dreams were a personal response to the events of the Holocaust.

Bennett, Amelie; Mattingly, Kate (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Mattingly, Kate (College of Science, School of Dance)

This work examines the commonly accepted notion of dance/movement therapy that mirroring another person’s movement will increase both participants’ levels of empathy. Mirroring involves a participant creating expressive dance; in a therapeutic setting, the therapist mirrors their movements to establish a relationship and gain insight into their physical and emotional experience. This connection most likely results from the activation of mirror neurons in the premotor and parietal cortices. In this study, I examine the relationship between the mirror and the dancer, specifically regarding the relative increase in their empathy levels. I also examine how a participant’s empathy level changes when the participant has dance training. The purpose of this factorial structure is to determine under what circumstances a participant has the best chances of improving their empathy. This study is ongoing and will conclude in December 2019; I expect to see the greatest increase in empathy from mirroring participants who have dance training, although all participants should increase in empathy from pre- to post-testing. Although my sample size is small enough that this is a case study, and is not clinical, it lends insight into understanding under what circumstances a dance/movement therapist and patient pair have the best chance of optimizing the patient’s empathic growth. By studying the relationship between empathy and dance training, I also begin to examine whether preemptive treatment can be taken before signs of social-emotional deficits present; that is, if a specific form of dance training and mirroring improves empathy in a non-clinical or pre-clinical population.

Harris, Anna (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Graham, Mark (Brigham Young University, Art Department)

I am a scholar, a future educator, and Utah woman exploring how to create a better future classroom. This last summer, I studied a person's influence on people and their relationship to the environment through traveling, painting, and talking to people in Scotland and the Faroe Islands. Through observation and communicating with local dwellers and other travelers, I learned more about the individual impact people have as well as the societal impact that can change landscapes. In the paintings: “Shetland Morning” and “Hillside Climbs”, I illustrated some of the subtle changes that we have made on otherwise natural landscapes giving both positive and negative impressions that we, as a whole, are leaving on the world. Traveling Scotland allowed me to have conversation after conversation with people of different socioeconomic status, different levels of learning, and in different stages of life. It taught me that I, a Utah Woman and teacher in the making, can make a difference.

Brock, Olivia (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Sand, Alexa (Caine College of the Arts, Art and Design Department)

Astrolabes are astronomical computational instruments that developed in the Arabic-speaking world of the early Middle Ages. As both scientifically sophisticated and aesthetically beautiful objects, the astrolabe presents many interpretive questions regarding how historians of visual and material culture understand objects that exist across disciplines. My project seeks to understand how these historians have defined the astrolabe as an art historical and scientific object. Using a variety of methods, from examining the objects in a museum setting to experimenting with my own, homemade astrolabe, I have gained an understanding of the different identities of astrolabes. However, I found that these preconceived identities assigned to astrolabes has limited our understanding of the objects and thus controlled our subsequent research. Following this observation, I geared my research towards first, understanding the gap in knowledge that exists regarding the astrolabe’s complex identity, and second, working to fill this gap by creating a piece of literature that captures the astrolabe from all of its perspectives. My goal through this paper is to develop and portray a concept of the astrolabe as an artistic, astrological, religious, and scientific object, and interpret how all of these identities interact with each other to create an unusually specific and complex object. I hope that through the dissemination of my work I will be able to help scientists connect to art and artists connect to science through an object equally valuable to the history and development of both fields.

Jackson, Erin; Root, Jerry; Kelly, Jessen (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Root, Jerry (College of Humanities, Department of World Languages and Cultures) Kelly, Jessen (College of Fine Arts, Department of Art and Art History)

Approximately 250 extant manuscripts of the Romance of the Rose contain illuminations. The depicted scenes and motifs within these works follow established patterns, a notion that created several iconic scenes from the Romance that can be seen in nearly every illuminated manuscript. Issues of representation and interpretation of the Old French text come to light through the depictions in the images. Inversely, the conversation created between these aspects of the manuscripts emphasizes the ways in which the illuminations inform the understanding of the text. Scholarship focuses predominantly on the former of these visual-textual relationships, and considering the influence of the images on textual understanding will provide new insight into the creation of one of the most highly-produced manuscripts of the Medieval period. These relationships are examined through the depictions of the reoccurring Narcissus scene within the Romance. This research will result in the completion of an interdisciplinary Honors Thesis for both French and Art History. The Romance research focuses on the analysis of series of images throughout the manuscripts available in the Digital Library of Medieval Manuscripts run by John Hopkins University. This is accomplished through a combination of literary and art history approaches to form a more holistic understanding of the visual-textual relationship within the Romance of the Rose manuscripts.

Jessica Ketchum (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Vanchero-Kelleher, Angela (Utah Valley University, Dance)

As dance has moved into the world of Academia, dance researchers have adopted various theoretical research models to support the idea that dance is a reflection of culture. In addition, postmodern critical theorists have developed evidence that proves that dance is a product of the culture in which it is created. The New Historicism theoretical research model also makes ties between past world history and the dances that were created at that time, and assumes that dance is a direct reflection of the era in which it was produced. For example, the aftermath of WW1 lead to a drastic change in culture, economics, and politics throughout the world.(Brown) The reconfiguration of world economies and governmental powers lead to the popularization of Utopianism throughout the world. Many Americans believed in the establishment and development of Utopian communities. Utopianism is a perfect visionary reform and idealistic view of a commonwealth. (Britannica) It is the idea that all members of a community can work together to support one another economically to create peace and unity. Correspondingly, many authors and artists began experimenting with ideas of utopianism. Artist, Doris Humphrey, integrated common phenomenons of the society into her choreography. (Hahn 1:55) She used ideas of unity and reinforcing community in Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor. This research analysis will discuss Doris Humphrey’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, from a New Historicism perspective and will argue that Humphrey’s choreographic choices for the piece were a direct reflection of the Utopian fixation in 20th century America.

Davis, Kaily (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisory: Sand, Alexa (Caine College of the Arts, Art and Design Department)

Stories are often used to illustrate moral principles, and fables in specific do so through depictions of animals. Aesop's fables are some of the best known of these moral teachings, and have been in circulation since the late fifth century A.D. My research surrounds a 1711 edition of Aesop’s fables, titled “Aesop Naturaliz’d: in a Collection of Fable and Stories from Aesop, Locman, Pilpay, and Others”. This book was printed for Daniel Midwinter, a prominent English bookseller. I seek to understand both the context in which Midwinter was printing and selling books and the audience he was selling to. In discovering the audience intended to receive “Aesop Naturaliz’d”, I hope to understand the moral expectations placed upon that audience. In addition, I will compare the audience and morals taught by “Aesop Naturaliz'd” with modern re-tellings of the same fables, exploring the differences in moral expectations taught therein.

Sommers, Taryn; Veon, Raymond (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Veon, Raymond (Caine College of the Arts, Art and Design Department)

A literature search of research and academic journals suggests that there are few critical examinations of LDS visual culture in visual culture research. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the types of gender roles portrayed in contemporary LDS visual culture, the visual codes used to represent these gender roles, and the degree to which the representations of gender used in LDS visual culture align with findings in related visual culture studies. The result of this study will be a description of the current visual strategies used by the LDS church to represent gender roles, a thematic analysis of these visual strategies, and suggestions for future research into the ways that the LDS church visually defines gender in relation to existing trends and themes in visual culture research. The scope will include: “Mormon Ads,” images used in the LDS magazine, “Ensign,” and conference memes used during the years 2016-2019. This will contribute to the field of visual culture and gender studies by examining the visual codes used by the LDS church to portray the role and status of males and females as represented in current LDS visual culture, determining the strategies used in these representations, and discussing the potential research implications of these findings in light of themes in visual culture gender studies. Some research questions are: What visual codes are used in the representation of males, females, and mixed-sex groups in current LDS visual culture? What types of roles and status do these visual codes convey pertaining to the representation of males, females, and mixed-sex groups in current LDS visual culture? What extent do the results of investigating the above research questions align with other research findings in gender and visual culture studies? The methods used in this research will be 1) an inventory of discrete visual codes (e.g. color use, affect/expression, clothing/dress, setting, etc.) used in the LDS visual culture samples, and 2) a separate thematic analysis of the sample will also be conducted. The results of both methods will be compared, analyzed, and discussed in light of current trends in visual culture gender research. While the results of this research are expected to demonstrate that LDS visual culture will emphasize and reinforce traditional gender roles of females as mothers and homemakers and males as leaders and providers, it is hoped that this study will reveal strategies related to gender role representation unique to LDS culture.

Filip, Sofia (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Titrington Craft, Elizabeth (College of Fine Arts, School of Music)

During the early 1900s, the rise of the American women’s suffrage movement coincided with a rise in contemporary theatre across vaudeville and Broadway stages. The work of George M. Cohan, an Irish American playwright, actor, producer and composer, grew to popularity throughout the United States during this time. With his emphasis on comedy and contemporary plots, Cohan’s plays, musicals, and songs revolutionized theatre and continue to influence modern artists. Much of Cohan’s work reflected social change and historical events such as feminism, immigration, political movements, World War I, and the Women’s Rights Movement. Although his portrayal of war, patriotism and immigrant identity is clearly stated throughout a number of Cohan’s plays, his messages about women, feminism and women’s suffrage are less obvious and change drastically throughout his career. Considering the popularity and extensive career Cohan held, examining these works for the portrayal of women enhances how we see the impact of Cohan’s work on society and vice versa. Specific pieces for this research were collected from the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and various university archives. Manuscripts such as Little Johnny Jones, The Whispering Friend, and Little Nellie Kelly were examined for elements of women’s suffrage, feminism, and sexism, and span the length of Cohan’s career. Other materials such as interviews and sheet music were also analyzed for these elements. This research will examine the contextual portrayal of women, feminism and the women’s suffrage movement throughout the plays, musicals, and songs written by George M. Cohan. Lastly, it will also present any patterns and shifts in Cohan’s messages about women throughout his career.

King, Alise (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Soukhakian, Fazilat (Caine College of the Arts, Art and Design Department)

I emphasize the strength and grit of Ann H. Davis who had crippling feet deformities which caused her to walk on the outsides of her feet, and her determined ability to walk, what today would be a 1,320-mile drive by car. Ann H. Davis was born in 1823 in Wales and traveled to America in 1854. It is said that Ann insisted on walking the majority of the way, rarely taking time for a rest in the wagons. She came with her daughter to Logan, Utah in 1859 from St. Louis. She met and married David W. Davis in Wellsville, Utah and gave birth to two other daughters as well as twins. Ann was a dress maker and raised cattle and sheep. She was also a Relief Society worker for 9 years. I chose to focus my project on Ann H. Davis because of her courage and ability to accomplish something so mentally and physically daunting, in-spite of her physical challenges.

Four of the five prints are created from digital negatives and exposed on salt paper prints. Salt paper printing is a technique created during the 19th century. The larger fifth print is a digital image, portraying Ann H. Davis’ feet. All prints are mounted on aluminum backing. Information about Ann H. Davis came from the Daughter of Utah Pioneers Logan Museum.

Hogan, Jake. Omasta, Matt. James, Nicole. Sase, Tanner. Felty, Aubrey. Lewis, Cassidy. Nielson, Madi. (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Omasts, Matt (Caine College of the Arts, Theatre Arts Department)

The goal of this project is to create a devised theatre performance by and about LGBTQIA+ people in Cache County. The project is essential because it creates a sense of inclusion for participants, promotes a better understanding of LGBTQIA+ people for audience members, and creates the notion these individuals’ stories deserve to be shared, understood, and valued. This project will be accomplished through an artistic theatrical process known as Devised Theatre. Devising is a subgroup of the larger genre of Applied Theatre, which attempts to promote and bring about social change through theatre. By doing this project, members of the LGBTQIA+ population in Cache Valley will have the opportunity to speak about and perform intricacies of the issues that they uniquely face. Challenging and overcoming oppression on college campuses is important for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and society more broadly.

The central research question for this project is: “How do members of the LGBTQIA+ population in Utah’s Cache County understand, process, and interact with individuals and institutions they encounter on a regular basis?

Huffcutt, Deanna (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Christensen, Brian (Brigham Young University, Art)

How does our perspective influence us? This piece, created out of wood and metal, is a walk-around piece with three different sides. Each side has a different perspective, though each piece is identical and only appears different due to placement. Our perspective greatly impacts our lives. As a woman living in Utah who did not grow up in Utah, I find that my perspective sometimes varies from the women around me. I am interested in the multitude of perspectives that exist in women in Utah, as I do not think it can be defined in one work of art.

Huffcutt, Deanna (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Christensen, Brian (Brigham Young University, Art)

I was curious about the idea of movement within natural restraints. As women, we face natural restraints all the time. Most of our restraints are cultural and self-made, so this artwork explores that idea.

Kimberly Tarnasky, Kelli Egan, Brigham Young University The Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award recognizes authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality fictional and biographical children, intermediate, and young adult books that authentically portray individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), intellectual disabilities, and Down syndrome. The Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award was created to make an impact toward the general public’s recognition of the positive societal contributions of individuals with developmental disabilities, greater understanding and acceptance of teachers and school-aged peers of students with developmental disabilities, and encouragement of authors and illustrators to publish quality literature including characters with developmental disabilities. Eleven picture books and 27 youth and adolescent chapter books were found to be eligible for the award, and were analyzed. Preliminary results indicate a high proportion of characters with ASD compared to other developmental disabilities, almost twice as many males as females, and almost all characters who are Caucasian. Additional content analyses will be conducted and completed by January, 2018. Investigations will include: how the character with the developmental disability interacts with others, develops family relationships, and how exemplary practices are portrayed. Considering the eligible books for the 2018 award helps us come closer to conclusions regarding the trends of developmental disabilities throughout children’s literature. We will provide suggestions for using these books in K-16 classrooms.

How do creative writers use research? I spent the summer of 2017 conducting personal research, a combination of imagination and hands-on exploration, on the Wasatch Mountain Range. I used works by Utah’s Terry Tempest Williams and Amy Irvine, who write about their love for and challenges with the region, as a backdrop for my own research. With funding from the Institute of Mountain Research, I chose to write about my own relationship with the Utah mountains. What do these mountains tell me about my life, family, history, and more importantly, how do they help me process trauma? My research included hiking along the Wasatch range, reading Williams and Irvine, taking pictures, and interviewing people. Sometimes I was alone, and other times I was accompanied by my fiancé, using the landscape to reflect on the death of his father. I turned a compilation of memories, reflections, and experiences into a long-form work of creative nonfiction, with multiple stories presented in vignettes. These are stories about people and nature, about trauma and healing, about loss and discovery. I hope to be given an opportunity to share these stories with an audience. You can view snippets of my writing here. The final product will be published on this website later this year: https://medium.com/the-mountain-commons/summer-2017-research-project-report-7a49e882f9e3

Zac Van Pelt, Southern Utah University

Zachary Webb, Dixie State University Beast is a marimba solo written by American composer and guitarist Steven Mackey. In recent years Mackey has been commissioned by groups such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic,the Kennedy Center, Sydney Symphony and New World Symphony. The central premise and intent behind creating a performance guide for Beast is that, as Mackey is an important American composer, understanding the processes and principles of his music is beneficial. Also, the value of studying marimba techniques employed in performance of the piece is important. The process and methodology of the research included a harmonic and rhythmic analysis of Beast in addition to preparing a performance. The process of identifying each element and comparing and contrasting it throughout the entire piece of music is paramount in research of the nature. Mackey uses compositional elements and utilizes performance techniques i a way that it introduces it well to the intermediate marimbist. With this knowledge, a musically mature and coherent performance is possible. Performance guides are effective and significant in the music field and this guide to Beast is no exception. As Mackey’s music continues to be performed by the leading symphonies and percussion students have a desire to learn, Beast will increase in stature in the canon. And as Beast was written with the intermediate marimbist in mind, the amount of in depth performance guides for that niche market are not readily available.

Miriam Sweeney, Brigham Young University

Francesca DeMartino, Utah Valley University

Sara Schlagel, Southern Utah University