150 years of excellence at the Dana School of Music

Three months ago, more than two dozen alumni, faculty, staff and student musicians from Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music wowed the masses on arguably the largest stage in the world when their recorded rendition of “America the Beautiful” kicked off Super Bowl LII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Tens of millions of people were treated to an earful of the internationally acclaimed quality long associated with the Mahoning Valley-born institute of music education. Indeed that Super Bowl performance served as a most appropriate backdrop for the sesquicentennial this year of one of the Mahoning Valley’s strongest artistic, cultural and educational gems.

We join others in the community in renewing our longstanding ovations for the rich contributions the Dana School has made in the Valley over the past 150 years and in honoring its continued reign as one of the premiere institutions of music education in the United States.

Back in 1869, few could have imagined that Dana would live through a century and a half of growth from its humble beginnings as a small music school in a few cramped rented rooms in an office building in downtown Warren.

Founder William H. Dana studied in several music conservatories in the United States, Germany and England and was discouraged by the mid-19th century trend of using part-time instructors and group lessons instead of investing vigorous full-time dedication to teaching the fine points of vocal and instrumental music.

THE DANA PHILOSOPHY

According to Vindicator archives, Dana believed that music should be practiced for hours every day and studied with the same seriousness and attention to detail as other academic subjects.

Dana clearly was on to something in that thinking because it took only one year for his institute of music to outgrow its cramped quarters and move into its own 40-room structure nearby in Warren.

Students had access to dedicated practice rooms and instruments. They could choose to study in four departments: church, parlor, orchestra or brass-band music. They also received classes in arrangement, harmony, composition, music history and theory.

In 1891, the state of Ohio’s Department of Education approved the Dana Musical Institute to grant collegiate bachelor of music degrees.

From there it continued its meteoric rise in size and acclaim unabated well into the 20th century.

In the summer of 1941, arrangements were finalized for the Dana Musical Institute to move from its eight-decade home in Warren to merge with Youngstown College. The new Dana’s Musical Institute at Youngstown College took over the Thomas family house on Wick Avenue.

In 1950, the name of the institute was changed to the Dana School of Music, and in 1977, it moved into its expansive new home in Bliss Hall on Wick Avenue.

Throughout those years and beyond, the school has expanded and diversified its repertoire. It has graduated thousands of students, many of whom have made indelible marks on all genres of music – from classical to opera to baroque to funk to rhythm and blues to rock to funk and even to country and western.

Those alums may be found performing in orchestras, opera companies, military groups, and other touring ensembles. Several have been enshrined as Hall of Fame songwriters and Grammy Award winners.

Among some of the more notable musical luminaries who once graced the halls of Dana are:

Sean Jones, a Warren native and 2000 Dana alumnus who has risen to become an internationally acclaimed trumpeter, a member of the SFJazz Collective, artistic director of Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz and former lead trumpet for Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Billy Beck, a two-time Grammy Award winner and a member of the 1970s R&B super group, The Ohio Players. Beck co-wrote “Love Rollercoaster,” a Billboard No. 1 smash in 1976.

John Anthony, a 2012 Dana master’s degree graduate who with other Dana alumni formed The Vindys, the Youngstown-based rock band that has grown to be one of the Mahoning Valley’s most popular acts. Anthony pointed out in a YSU alumni magazine that Dana has produced a slew of artists who have played significant roles in revitalizing downtown Youngstown into a vibrant center of live music.

Those artists and countless others have established a noteworthy legacy of growth and excellence at Dana, a legacy that we are confident will continue to play out gloriously for years and decades to come.