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The Dartmouth
July 15, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

'PRFORM' plays musical matchmaker

The halls of East Wheelock were uncharacteristically noisy last Friday afternoon. With instrument cases, extension cords and empty pizza boxes strewn about, Brace Commons came alive with PRFORM's Musicians Meet Jam Session.

PRFORM was conceived by Alex Lloyd '10, a member of the campus band, Occam's Razor, as an "on-campus performing artists' union." Frustrated by the various difficulties facing Dartmouth bands, Lloyd and bandmate Max Bogren '10 formed PRFORM last winter as a means of uniting musicians, facilitating band formation and solving common problems with the campus music scene. Now led by president Charlie Grant '11, PRFORM is emerging as a musical force on campus.

Musicians Meet was billed as a forum for musicians to play their instruments and meet one another. Newcomers and PRFORM regulars alike huddled about a variety of guitars and rotated in and out of arrangements.

"Our mission statement is to make it easier for on-campus performers to do what they do, to get out and perform and meet people," said Grant.

PRFORM musicians hold weekly open meetings to discuss the problems faced by campus musicians and the intended goals for the group. Some of these problems include procuring practice space for musicians, finding equipment and storage space, meeting new musicians and finding gigs every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. in Robinson Hall.

"It's not easy to find people that play around campus unless you're active at the Hop," said John Gerstenberger '11, a first-time PRFORM participant. "You don't know who plays and who plays what. You may know them but not know they play music."

To confront the problems facing campus bands, Matt Mukurjee '10, PRFORM equipment manager and another member of Occam's Razor, began a musician's database from his personal computer science lab space. The database serves as a search engine that lists campus musicians by name, instrument and style. Currently, the database contains more than 40 musicians with styles ranging from Irish traditional to reggae, rockabilly to ska. The idea is for bands to find the missing players they need and for casual musicians to find friends for jam sessions. In the summer or fall, PRFORM plans to apply for recognition from the Council on Student Organizations, which would give them the resources to upgrade and expand the database.

"Alex started this because he's in a band, and he knows how hard it is," said Sabrina Cuadrado '11, PRFORM's activities manager. "He just wants to help people out."

The less musically inclined members of the Dartmouth community need not despair -- PRFORM does not intend to limit itself to musicians. The addition of comedians to the ranks is also on the books, furthering the plan to make PRFORM an inclusive campus artists' initiative. If the turnout to the Musicians Meet is any indication, PRFORM is headed for success.

"There's endless possibility," said Grant of PRFORM's future, and given the assortment of instruments that appeared in Brace Commons, it's difficult not to believe him.