Opera singers face psychological and occupational demands that often compromise well-being and career satisfaction. In this repeated measures study, professional and pre-professional opera singers participated in either a two-week or four-week intensive training program that was designed to enhance performance skills. Curriculum was taught in an…

In this essay, I explore Jewish composer/singer/liturgist Debbie Friedman and her time in Houston (1978-1984) as a crucial moment in the history of Jewish education. Working as a music educator in two area synagogues, Friedman negotiated a changing environment as cantorial training rose to become a mark of communal musical authority. She…

Overexcitability (OE) and optimal flow are variables shared by talented individuals. This study demonstrated that the dancer (n = 86) and opera singer (n = 61) groups shared higher OE profiles compared to the athlete group (n = 50). Two self-report instruments assessed flow (global and subscales) and the five OE dimensions. All groups endorsed…

Stanford University's (California) Julie Sweetkind-Singer is a recognized authority on digital preservation, and has been honored by the Library of Congress for her work in the field. She currently serves as both the assistant director of Stanford's Geospatial, Cartographic and Scientific Data and Services and as head of the Branner Earth Sciences…

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Dan Vargas spent his twenties going to punk shows at King's Palace, Club 88, the Cathay de Grand, the Vex, the Starwood, the Hong Kong Cafe, Base's Hall, and the Masque. He has produced for several bands and is currently a songwriter and singer for an LA rock band. In this article, he reflects on the…

Reports on a study to determine whether placement in a remedial English class is more effective than placement in a regular English class for enabling students who are beyond the acquisition phase of reading development to pass district minimal competency tests. Data support placement in the regular English class. (NH)

Two singers of traditional Karuk songs discuss how they learned Karuk traditions, language, songs, and dances; their performance experiences; and their thoughts on cultural revitalization and maintenance, and on cultural property and its exploitation. (SV)

A study examined the construct and predictive validity of phonemic awareness to determine the strength of the relationship between phonemic segmentation and auditory abstraction and to determine which of the two measures provided the best prediction of word recognition ability. Data were gathered from 65 first-grade children from 2 public…

This essay recreates the exciting Latin music and dance scenes of post-World War II Southern California, showing how Mexican Americans produced and consumed a range of styles and, in the process, articulated their complex cultural sensibilities. By participating in a Spanish-language expressive culture that was sophisticated and cosmopolitan,…

Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. The "Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education" provides higher…