Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (ΦΜΑ) is an American collegiate social fraternity with an emphasis in music. It was founded as the Sinfonia Club at the New England Conservatory of Music on October 6, 1898, by Ossian Everett Mills.
The fraternity is open to men "who, through a love for music, can assist in the fulfillment of [its] object and ideals either by adopting music as a profession or by working to advance the cause of music in America." Phi Mu Alpha has initiated more than 260,000 members, known as Sinfonians, and as of 2016 had over 7,000 active collegiate members in 249 collegiate chapters throughout the United States.
The organization's national headquarters are located at the Lyrecrest estate in Evansville, Indiana. Phi Mu Alpha operates independently from any of the major American intercollegiate governing bodies for fraternities, though it had been a member of the Professional Fraternity Association from 1954 to 2007.
The fraternity has local, regional, and national levels of governance. Phi Mu Alpha also charters local alumni associations in a particular geographic area. Chapters and alumni associations are grouped into provinces. A National Executive Committee, elected by a National Assembly at each triennial National Convention, governs the national organization.
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia was founded as the Sinfonia Club by Ossian Everett Mills, the bursar of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Mills was profoundly interested in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual development of the conservatory's students and had a tradition of hosting devotional meetings going back as far as 1886. Mills sought to encourage the personal development of the young men at the conservatory through wholesome social interaction among them, leading him to suggest that the older students of the conservatory invite the newer students to a social reception on September 22, 1898. Several men who attended the reception began to discuss the possibility of organizing a more permanent social club, and a meeting was planned for October 6, 1898, for that purpose.
The fraternity attributes the name "Sinfonia" to prominent American composer George Whitefield Chadwick, then director of the conservatory. Chadwick was elected as the second honorary member of the club after Ossian Mills, and suggested the name "Sinfonia" from a student organization to which he had belonged in Leipzig, Germany. Before 1947, the legal corporate name of the fraternity was Sinfonia Fraternity of America, though the Greek letters Phi, Mu, and Alpha had been associated with the fraternity since at least 1904. The delegates to the 29th National Convention in 1946 approved changing the corporate name to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, which it remains today.
The Sinfonia Club 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 direction of Gilbert Raynolds Combs. The traditional date given in fraternity resources for the founding of the Beta chapter at Broad Street Conservatory is October 6, 1900. However, while the petitioning letter submitted by the men from Philadelphia is dated October 6, a notation made by Ralph Howard Pendleton, secretary of Alpha chapter at the New England Conservatory, at the bottom of the letter indicates that the petition was not approved until October 8.
For the next two decades, Phi Mu Alpha grew and emphasized developing high character among male musicians. Percy Jewett Burrell, sixth Supreme President (1907–1914), was influential during its formative years because of his long tenure in office and extensive writings. Burrell wrote many articles calling for members to develop within themselves the noble virtues espoused by the fraternity's exoteric and esoteric teachings.
As the fraternity grew in both the number of members and chapters, so did its emphasis on the advancement of music. In 1927, the original Object statement was altered so that "to advance the cause of music in America" was put in a place of prominence. After the American victory in World War II, the young men who returned from battle to re-enter the nation's universities through the benefits of the G.I. Bill were less interested in an organization devoted to upholding noble ideals—ideals that seemed naive given the men's wartime experiences—than they were in the practical matter of finding civilian employment. This, combined with the fact that many of Phi Mu Alpha's national leaders at the time were heavily involved in state and local music educators' professional organizations, led the fraternity to become increasingly concerned with the advancement of its members in the music profession (especially in music education) in addition to the advancement of music in general. The professional period of the fraternity's history culminated in 1970 when its leaders began marketing it as "The Professional Fraternity for Men in Music" and when a new statement of purpose was adopted that began, "The primary purpose of this Fraternity shall be to encourage and actively promote the highest standards of creativity, performance, education, and research in music in America."
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, enacted on June 23, 1972, prohibits discrimination based on gender in educational programs receiving federal funding. This prohibition extends to professional societies for students enrolled at universities that receive federal funds for student financial aid or other programs. However, social organizations, such as social fraternities and sororities, are specifically exempted. Phi Mu Alpha's initial response to Title IX was to allow chapters, beginning in 1976, to initiate women on a case-by-case basis as universities began questioning Phi Mu Alpha's single-sex membership policy.
In 1983, the fraternity successfully petitioned for an exemption from Title IX from the U.S. Department of Education based on its historical existence as a social organization, but some members felt that the fraternity should continue as a professional organization and fully embrace a coed membership policy. The issue came to a head at the 45th National Convention in 1985 when the fraternity's National Assembly voted to restore Phi Mu Alpha to its original status as a male-only social fraternity. Despite this action, the fraternity did not change its statement of purpose (now known as the Object) to reflect the change in status until 2003, and it remained a member of the Professional Fraternity Association until 2007.
Since its centennial in 1998, Phi Mu Alpha has re-embraced the vision of its founders as an organization devoted primarily to the character development of its members. The fraternity aims to build "musicianly men" into "manly musicians" who will go out into the world and advance the cause of music in their fields of influence, whether that be as music professionals, through other professions, or through philanthropy and advocacy in support of the musical arts. The number of collegiate members and active chapters has steadily grown since 2000.
The official colors of Phi Mu Alpha are red, black, and gold. The Sinfonia Club adopted the colors red and black on March 7, 1900, and used them as the color motif of the decorations for its first club room. Phi Mu Alpha adopted red and black as its official colors at its 1st National Convention in 1901. Gold was adopted as the third color of the fraternity at the 10th National Convention in 1910. Phi Mu Alpha's official flower is the chrysanthemum, adopted at the 1st National Convention in 1901. The official fraternity flag consists of a red field with the coat of arms centered on a wide black diagonal stripe extending from the upper hoist to the lower fly.
Phi Mu Alpha's coat of arms was adopted at the 10th National Convention in 1910. The escutcheon (shield) consists of a red saltire (or Saint Andrew's Cross) on a field of gold. Centered is a symbol similar to the fraternity's membership pin, though differing in that, instead of 7 red and white circles/stones along each side of the triangle, there are 13 monochromatic circles along each side. The saltire divides the escutcheon into four sections. In the dexter section (bearer's right or viewer's left) are clasped hands, in the sinister section (bearer's left or viewer's right) are panpipes, and in the base section (bottom) is a lamp. The chief section (top) contains no charge, but the point of the centered triangular symbol crosses into it. Two fanfare trumpets crossing behind the escutcheon with the bells at the top and mouthpieces at the bottom serve as supporters. Above the escutcheon is decorative mantling and a lyre as the crest. Below is a scroll divided into three sections by the leadpipes of the fanfare trumpets. In the center section is the word Sinfonia, and the left and right sections display the numbers 18 and 98, respectively, representing the founding year of the fraternity: 1898.