Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia

Happy Charter Day to the Sisters of the Zeta Upsilon chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity! Zeta Upsilon was chartered in Edinboro State College on October 31, 1976! SAI has always been integral to music and the arts here in Edinboro and we hope that their legacy will always be remembered as a means to further music in America and throughout the world! Vita brevis, ars longa #edinborouniversity #sigmaalphaiota

For Throwback Thursday we are featuring our chapter awarding our longtime faculty brother and EUP Music Department Chair, Dr. Gary S. Grant (Zeta ‘90), the Orpheus Award in 2009! The Orpheus Award is given by chapters to any Sinfonian or non-Sinfonian who has significantly and lastingly contributed to the cause of music in America! #phimualpha #edinborouniversity #lambdajamma #throwbackthursday

#throwbackthursday #phimualpha #edinborouniversity #lambdajamma

Happy Founder’s Day from our brothers to yours! #phimualpha #province39 #lambdajamma

Today is Sinfonia’s Founder’s Day the 122nd anniversary of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the world’s oldest and largest music fraternity, founded in 1898. In 1898,... Mills founded the Sinfonia Club at the conservatory, which was destined very soon to become Alpha Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. He was elected an honorary member of the club at its first meeting on October 6, 1898. Often referred to as the Father of the Sinfonia, Mills had been a familiar figure at annual conventions until his last years when his work would not permit his leaving Boston. He served the Fraternity as Supreme President from 1901-1902 and 1904-1905 and was elected Honorary Grand Supreme President for Life in 1904. In 1954, former Supreme President Percy Burrell recalled his long friendship with Mills. He noted above all Mills’ humility and the fact that Mills became somewhat uncomfortable when given recognition as having planted a seed in the hearts of some young men studying music at the New England Conservatory in Boston back in 1898, that had blossomed forth into a national brotherhood that year after year had been making its impress throughout the country Burrell wrote further: I can still see what seemed to be a wistful yet joyous expression on his face whenever this thought was expressed in his presence. Ossian Mills died from pneumonia at his home in Wellesley, Massachusetts on December 26, 1920. He had been ill for only a few days, and his death came as a great shock to his associates and assistants to all of whom was familiar the story of the great service which he rendered in the earlier years of the school and which he unremittingly continued during his later years. He is buried in the family plot of a small, wooded cemetery in Thompson, Connecticut. May we continue to honor Ossian’s vision. Happy Founder’s Day, Brothers! #PhiMuAlpha #BrotherhoodInMusic