Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

DMA

College

College of Creative Arts

Department

School of Music

Committee Chair

Mikylah Myers

Committee Member

Andrew Kohn

Committee Member

Erin Ellis

Committee Member

Jacky Prucz

Abstract

Since their original publications, Otakar Ševčík’s Analytical Studies & Exercises books have been used as practical guides to practicing standard violin repertoire. Jerome Franke (1948-2019) was Assistant Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for approximately twenty-five years, Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, string advisor for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra, founder of the Cedarburg Chamber Ensemble and a founding member of Quartet Dubuffet, violin instructor at Wisconsin Lutheran College and conductor of the school’s “Chamber Strings'' orchestra, and a crossover musician and recording artist. Franke, who studied with Scott Willits (a former student of Ševčík’s and the first representative of his methods in the US), wrote his own practice exercises for a selection of violin concertos from the standard repertoire. He developed a fresh, concise, and approachable way of passing on Ševčík’s tradition through his “Architectural Practice” exercises. The major part of this research focuses on Franke and his “Architectural Practice” exercises. This document presents them as a practical and approachable source for students and teachers. The “Architectural Practice” exercises target the most technically challenging passages and help guide the practice of them. Franke’s “Architectural Practice” exercises can serve as an extension of Ševčik's Analytical Studies & Exercises for various violin works. Dr. Samantha George, Associate Professor of Violin at Lawrence University, co-presenter with Franke at the American String Teachers Association conferences in 2012 and 2015, co-author of two articles with Franke in the American String Teacher magazine, and former Associate Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, was a long-time colleague and friend to Franke, collaborating with him in teaching, performing, and conference presentations. Dr. George inherited Franke’s work upon his death in 2019 and provided the handwritten “Architectural Practice” exercises to the author for digitization and analysis for this paper.

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