
Marcia McCants
Marcia McCants, an Alexandria, VA native has a Bachelor of Music in Music Industry from James Madison University, a Master’s of Music Performance in Percussion from George Mason University, and a Master’s of Arts in Applied Psychology of Music from the University of Leeds. McCants has performed with the Colour of Music Orchestra in 2021 and 2024, and the Colour of Music Orchestra percussion section at PASIC in 2021. She also has performed with the Fairfax Wind Symphony Massanutten Brass Band, and the Brass Band of Northern Virginia. During her time at the University of Leeds, she co-founded the first percussion ensemble at the university through their student union, an ensemble that is still on going. She is also active within PAS, being a member of the Scholarly Research Committee since 2023 and the Diversity Alliance in. Her main focus of research is music performance and emotions.
How Musicians Convey Emotion Through Body Movement
Session Description:
The session would dive into the research stated, providing information and detailed analysis of this topic. The researcher would go over the history of studying music performance and emotions, as it focuses solely on the audience perspective. The study also wanted to stray away from the typical instruments involved in studies, like the piano, violin, flute, and was able to get 6 participants: 3 percussionists, a bassoonist, tubaist, and euphoniumist. The study involved an interview and observation section, where the participants provided a video of them playing a solo. The research aims to answer the following questions: (1) how do musicians convey emotion through body movement? (2) are musicians aware of their own body movements? and (3) is emotional body movement or music expressivity practiced or taught? The researcher asked each participant about their concept of music expression, how they practice, their performance, and body movement. Through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, it was found that there can be varying levels of body awareness when playing, that particular body movements that induced emotional responses were intentional, and that an overall understanding of the music and its meaning and the audience is essential. The findings also showed that being musically and emotionally expressive, with body movement, requires meticulous practice and significant attentiveness during practice sessions.
Session Category:
- Scholarly Research
Date:
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Time:
10:00 AM
Location:
Room 209
Session Type:
Lightning Round Sessions
Session Format:
Shared