The Zeta Mu chapter of music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha will start their fall recruitment process at a recital Tonight.
The recital will be held today at 7:30 p.m. in the Gaertner Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Admission is free.
While the recital occurs early in the semester, Phi Mu Alpha will use this performance to promote their fraternity to prospective new members and advertise what their brotherhood is like.
Senior music education major and Phi Mu Alpha President John Maldonado said they will perform songs that every new member of the fraternity will have to learn.
“Most of the songs we are singing are songs we’re familiar with out of what we call our ‘Red Book,’” he said. “We have our own songs, so a lot of us are already familiar with them.”
“Hail Sinfonia,” “Sinfonian Anthem” and “Red and Black” are among several songs the brotherhood will perform.
While the fraternity will perform vocally as a whole, individual members who are instrumentalists may perform a solo piece if they choose, Maldonado said.
Phi Mu Alpha members are not exclusively music majors, but all share a common mission.
“We’re men of music, so something we stand for is advancing music in America,” Maldonado said. “Not all of our brothers are actually music majors, but they are affiliated with music in some shape, way or form.”
Tuesday’s recital begins the 12-week recruitment process where prospective members meet with current members to become educated in what Phi Mu Alpha is and the traditions that surround it.
Phi Mu Alpha is one of the oldest and largest music fraternities with origins reaching as far back as the late 1800’s. The organization became a national music fraternity in 1900, and the Zeta Mu chapter was established at SHSU in the 1950’s. Notable members of the national society include John Phillip Sousa, Duke Ellington and Andy Griffith.
For more information, visit the chapter’s website at http://www.pmazetamu.org.