Date of Graduation
Spring 2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Music (MM)
Department
Music Theory and Composition
Committee Chairperson
Adam Silverman, D.M.A.
Committee Member
Robert Maggio, P.H.D.
Committee Member
Mark Rimple, D.M.A.
Abstract
Serenade No.2 is a seventeen minute composition for Wind Symphony, dedicated to each
of my mentors in classical composition during the past 10 years: John Carbon, Brian Norcross,
Samuel Andreyev, Jay Chadwick, Adam Silverman, Robert Maggio, Ari Sussman, and Mark
Rimple. Through this composition, my goal was to both pay homage to the individuals that
helped shape my artistic voice, and to additionally connote each movement with evocative
oceanic imagery, specifically through the title of each movement in the composition. I included
this latter detail in reference to a vacation that I went on in August of 2025 to Atlantic Beach,
North Carolina. This vacation occurred simultaneously with my first initial drafts of Serenade
No.2, and was heavily influential in generating the narrative themes of this work.
Final Version Confirmation
1
Recommended Citation
Mechem, James C., "Serenade No.2" (2026). West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects. 53.
https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/all_capstones/53