Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Fall 12-9-2015

Faculty Advisor(s)

Jessica Sterfeld

Abstract

There seem to be more child prodigies today than ever before. This growth can be attributed to the way society contributes to and facilitates young talent. For instance, shows such as “America’s Got Talent”, “American Idol”, and “The X Factor” cultivate the younger generation to desire fame. Though these children are exceptionally talented, they are also discovered and forgotten at such a rapid pace as well, no doubt due to the amount of social medial accessible in the 21st century. YouTube has become a part of the easily accessible social media trend and is often used as a common source to discover these children. Therefore, an untrained society now determines what constitutes musical talent and ability. There is an overemphasis on the performance of technical ability as opposed to the performance or scholarly interpretation. Children may be capable of musical abilities but to what extent is it imitation as opposed to individual creativity? At 300 hours of video per minute, at what point do these prodigies stop becoming extraordinary and will their story stand the test of time? This research explores how child prodigies are pushing the technical boundaries of our century but also asks whether genuine musicianship can be found in each one.

Comments

Presented at the Fall 2015 Student Research Day at Chapman University.

Download

Share

COinS