Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia

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Phi Mu Alpha (ΦΜΑ) Sinfonia is a collegiate social values-based fraternity for men with an above-average interest in music. The fraternity is also referred to as Phi Mu Alpha, Sinfonia, or the Sinfonia, and its members are known as Sinfonians. The fraternity currently has 214 active collegiate chapters, 14 colonies, and 10 area alumni associations throughout the United States. More than 150,000 men have been initiated into Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia since its founding in 1898, making it the largest and oldest secret society in music. Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia operates independently from any of the major governing councils for collegiate fraternities in the United States such as the North-American Interfraternity Conference, though it is a member of other interfraternal organizations such as the Association of Fraternity Advisors, the Collegiate Fraternity Editors Association, and the National Interfraternity Music Council.

History

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia was founded as the “Sinfonia Club” on October 6, 1898, by Ossian Everett Mills and thirteen students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Traditionally, the origin of the name "Sinfonia" is attributed to George W. Chadwick, the director of the New England Conservatory who was elected as the second honorary member of the club after Ossian Mills. It is said that Chadwick suggested the name after the name of a club to which he had belonged in Leipzig, Germany. However, this story cannot be corroborated by any official documentation.

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia became a national fraternity on October 6, 1900, with the admission of a group of men at the Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Under the guidance of Percy Jewett Burrell (sixth Supreme President, 1907–1914), whose writings and speeches continue to be influential in the teaching of Sinfonian ideals to this day, the fraternity grew.

Object

The Object of this Fraternity shall be for the development of the best and truest fraternal spirit; the mutual welfare and brotherhood of musical students; the advancement of music in America and a loyalty to the Alma Mater.

The fraternity's object was initially adopted in 1901. After numerous adaptations of the Fraternity's purpose statement, the original object was reaffirmed at the 2003 National Convention in Washington, D.C.

National Philanthropy

The national philanthropy of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is the Mills Music Mission. It was inspired by a practice originated by the fraternity’s founder, Ossian Everett Mills, in 1886. Mills would take a group of New England Conservatory students to perform for and visit with patients in Boston hospitals on Christmas and Easter. The students would sing, play music, and give recitations. These "flower missions," as they came to be known because the students would also bring flowers to those with whom they visited, brought joy to the lonely and hope to the destitute. In 2003, the Mills Music Mission was adopted as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's official national philanthropy. This project is rare among fraternity philanthropies since, instead of supporting some well-known charity, the fraternity uses the unique talents and interests of its members to personally bring happiness to those in most need of it.

Alumni Involvement

Indeed, membership in the fraternity is intended to be a lifelong commitment, unlike in some Greek organizations where formal membership ends after a member leaves school . Brothers who have graduated are known as alumni brothers, and the fraternity is seeking to dramatically increase engagement with its alumni members . Area Alumni Associations, first organized in 1996 and scattered throughout the country, provide more formalized ways for alumni to gather together and further the ideals and Object of the Fraternity. Such groups are currently active in Atlanta, Central Florida, Central Ohio, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Tulsa, and Washington, D.C. For alumni who are unable or choose not to join an alumni association, opportunities exist for participation in events sponsored by local collegiate chapters and to become involved in the national organization through volunteer leadership positions and committee membership. Alumni members are also encouraged to support the fraternity financially through contributions to the Sinfonia Educational Foundation.

Sinfonia Educational Foundation

The Sinfonia Educational Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Founded originally as the “Sinfonia Foundation” in 1954 with the aim of advancing music as both an art and profession, it was reorganized in 2004 to better model itself after the educational foundations of other major fraternities. The foundation allows the fraternity to take advantage of tax code stipulations which allow the foundation to accept tax-deductible gifts which can then be used to support the educational programs of the fraternity as well as provide collegiate chapters and individual Sinfonians with matching grants, scholarships, travel assistance grants to attend national fraternity events with educational components, research grants, and study abroad grants. Thus, the Sinfonia Educational Foundation supports the fraternity’s philosophy of building men of music into men of high ideals and aspirations who will then go out into the world as advocates for and supporters of music in their daily lives.

Notable Sinfonians

Over a century old, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia has admitted men from all walks of life, some of whom have achieved notability in fields such as music, television, film, science, and literature. Among these famous Sinfonians are television personalities Mister Rogers and Andy Griffith, jazz musicians Duke Ellington and Cannonball Adderley, philanthropists Andrew Carnegie and George Eastman, politicians Thomas Dewey and Fiorello LaGuardia, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.

Chapters

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia has 214 active chapters and 14 colonies across the United States. Alpha Chapter at the founding New England Conservatory was active from 1898 to 1977. It was reactivated in 1991 but subsequently became inactive again in 1995 and remains so today. Delta Chapter at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY was chartered on January 28, 1901, and is currently the oldest continuously active chapter in the Fraternity. Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is considered by some to be among the first non-historically black fraternities to charter a chapter at a historically black college or university when Sinfonia chartered at Howard University on May 19, 1952.

The fraternity’s collegiate chapters participate in a broad range of activities emphasizing brotherhood, service, and performance in music. Chapters take music into the through the Mills Music Mission; sponsor concerts of American music, jazz and choral festivals, all-campus sings and Broadway-style reviews; provide a large variety of performing ensembles ranging from big bands to barbershop quartets; commission new works; bring prominent performers and clinicians to their campuses; and take part in a variety of other social and musical activities.

References

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 19:49:08 PDT (GMT -0700)
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