In perfect harmony

On a bright, sunny Thursday afternoon in mid-October, students began to trickle into the concert hall in the Roger Glass Center for the Arts. They came one by one at first, then a few at a time — all greeted by professor Sam Dorf at the door with a “good afternoon” and a cheery smile.

Dorf, professor of musicology and Alumni Chair in the Humanities, known across campus for his infectious enthusiasm, teaches Music in Concert — a class that meets only once a week but draws a crowd of more than 300 students.

As even more students came through the doors and took their seats, Dorf stopped to chat with first-year psychology student Eli Damron.

“How many live performances do you get to see in this class?” he asked.

Damron’s eyes got a little wide. “Phew, a lot,” he replied.

Dorf smiled and followed up, “Do you enjoy it?”

Damron laughed, “It’s good. No, it’s great, actually.”

Each week, Dorf welcomes musicians to the concert hall stage — many from the Dayton area, some from beyond. Earlier this semester, the New York-based funk and soul band The Nth Power stopped by before a show at The Brightside Music Venue to play a few songs and talk to students.

“Thank you @universityofdayton for having @theNthPower at your beautifully trippy theater to talk about music and life, and to play for y’all,” the band posted on Instagram afterward. Students clap along. 

“For me, music — it’s like therapy in a way...It’s like a release, almost; how I get things off my chest.”

Other guests have included musicians from the Dayton Opera, the Dayton Salsa Project, the punk band Abertooth Lincoln, the Pride of Dayton Marching Band, the Keigo Hirakawa Jazz Trio (Hirakawa is a UD engineering professor) and pianist Joshua Moshier.

During this particular class, UD singer-songwriters Johnny Sebastian, a senior music and English major, and Tori Kozma, a senior music education major, each shared a few songs of their own and then answered questions from Dorf about how they create music.

“For me, music — it’s like therapy in a way. A lot of the time, if I’m feeling frazzled or bored even, I’ll just write down some ideas,” Kozma said about songwriting. “It’s like a release, almost; how I get things off my chest.”

Sebastian concurred. “I’ve been doing [songwriting] since I was a kid. In music classes, I would always try to run off and write my own stuff. I’ve always been into writing stories,” he said.

Class assignments, fittingly, are focused on experiencing music in real life. Students must attend at least 10 live performances — concerts, recitals, open-mic nights and even bands playing at parties in the student neighborhood all count.

Electrical engineering junior Jack Borchers said he recently threw a birthday party for one of his roommates, and his brother came to DJ; it counted as one of his required experiences. He also saw the UD Jazz Ensemble perform with his parents during Family Weekend.

“This class allows you to explore different types and genres of music that you don’t normally listen to or know existed,” he said.

As students filed out of the concert hall at the end of class, Dorf again stood by the door, bidding them a great rest of the day.

The lights dimmed and the chatter faded, but the empty hall still hums with the buzz of guitar strings. For Dorf, music isn’t something that ends on the last note — it’s something that lingers. And he hopes his students still listen for it long after class is dismissed.

Photographs by Sylvia Stahl '18