THESIS
My thesis in music was the culmination of years of listening to,
studying, and researching the music of two of my musical heroes: Frank
Zappa and Sun Ra. Both musicians and thinkers succeeded in creating
extremely personal, vast bodies of work that set a new standard for
innovation, originality, dedication, and artistry in their respective
musics. In
addition to a research paper of sorts [available here] that probed the
musical and sociological influence of their lives and works, my thesis
included transcriptions of compositions by each artist. I also composed
and arranged numerous original compositions, which spanned
many genres and were performed by various ensemble configurations. For
those not frightened off by eclecticism and silliness, this performance
can be experienced in approximation thanks
to the information distribution technology made possible by youtube: www.youtube.com/mwandishiman