Daniel Ott is an award-winning composer whose scores have been played all over the world. His office space at Fordham is an extension of his love for music—and more.
Take a look at some of his most prized possessions in this month’s installment of our What’s on My Desk series, where we highlight interesting objects displayed by professors in their offices.
A Seattle Sports Fan and Cat Dad
Ott, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, describes himself as a “lifelong Seattle sports fan.” Tucked away in his office bookshelf is a Funko Pop of former Seattle Seahawks player Steve Largent, a gift from his two children.
Ott also has a small figurine of a cat, an homage to his three actual cats: Philip, Lucy, and Frankie. “I’m a big cat person. In fact, I fostered five kittens that were feral cats this past summer,” he said. “We adopted out four of them and kept one—Frankie, short for Frances.”
‘I Told You I Would Ruin Music for You’
Ott has a collection of coffee mugs, including an Iron Maiden mug. “As a kid, I was super into hard rock and heavy metal music because I have two older brothers, and that’s what they were listening to.”
Next to it is a graduation gift from former students—a one-of-a-kind mug. “On one side is a score from a piano sonata by Mozart that we often analyzed in our music theory class. On the other side is a quote that I apparently said during class: ‘I told you I would ruin music for you and I hope that I have.’ I told my students this piece would haunt their dreams because we’d talk about it so much,” Ott said. “But I followed up that quote with, ‘I’m not really ruining music for you. You’re now able to listen on a deeper level and understand how the piece is not only structured, but how many pieces are structured in a similar way. Now, you can listen for the ways in which each piece is unique.’”
A Breaking Bad Spin-Off
On a bulletin board, next to art drawn by Ott’s children when they were little, is a satirical poster of award-winning TV series Breaking Bad. “There’s a technical term in music theory called ‘breaking species.’ This method helps composers avoid writing difficult passages. My former student at Juilliard’s pre-college program thought it would be funny to create a Breaking Bad mashup, so they replaced the main character Walter White with me and the music theorist who came up with this subject in the 18th century,” Ott explained.
‘Hi Dada, I’m Auditioning for Fordham!’
When they were young, Ott’s two children left behind post-it notes in his office. His eldest child is now a first-year college student, but Ott still keeps their Post-its on his computer screen. “I often brought my kids with me to work [when babysitting didn’t work out],” said Ott. “They even drew a picture of my wife, who is also a musician.”
The Birthplace of New Songs
Ott composes music at a desk between his office keyboard and electric piano. First, he starts composing by hand with a pencil and blank sheet music. Then he types notes into the keyboard, which translates his composition into digital sheet music on his computer screen, while playing the actual music out loud on his electric piano.
Unfortunately, Ott does not have soundproof walls. “I’m lucky that on the other side is not somebody’s full-time office,” he said. “Also, I can connect headphones to my electric piano.”
Soundproofing isn’t a problem in the new music suite several floors below his office. “We have five really great rooms where our students can practice, rehearse, and explore,” he said.
His own office is a place where he does the same thing—enjoying the sound of music.
“When I teach, I’m teaching students how to listen deeply and sharing my love of listening with them. Even composing is an act of listening. I’m listening to music that is unfamiliar to me, and trying to capture it. What I’m putting on a page is a transcription of something that I’m hearing,” Ott said. “[Listening] is the source of everything I do.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
