About
Welcome to the Province 18 website of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, Inc. Province 18 is aptly defined as "all of Virginia, except for that small part at the top with Shenandoah Conservatory".
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (sometimes referred to as "Sinfonia") is a collegiate social fraternity for men of musicianly character. Today, its 213 chapters, 10 colonies, and 7 alumni associations serve to "advance the cause of music in America" on college campuses nationwide. To date Phi Mu Alpha has initiated more than 180,000 men in to their order making it the largest and oldest secret society in music.
History
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia was founded in 1898 by Ossian Everett Mills and thirteen students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts (The name "Sinfonia" comes from the name of a similar organization in Leipzig, Germany). 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. 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 and "truly became a force in American music."
Over a century old, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia has admitted men from all walks of life, some of whom have become famous in such fields as music, television, film, science, and literature. A small list of famous Sinfonians can be found here.
*Wikipedia contributors, 'Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 11 May 2006, 18:38 UTC, [accessed 13 May 2006]