|
|
 Bloomingdale School of Music students Edward Hardy and Vinicio Haro, winners of the 2007 Mu Epsilon Scholarship, will perform alongside the founders of the New York City Alumni Chapter at the Tenri Cultural Institute on December 16, 2007.
|
Mu
Phi Epsilon An International Music Fraternity —Lawrence Davis If your idea of a fraternity involves wild parties, sloppy off-campus residences, or memorizing the names of your fraternity brothers, your vision might be too narrow. Among the fraternities are many that bear no resemblance at all to the stereotypes we are all familiar with. Take Mu Phi Epsilon, for example. Despite the fact that they have 130 collegiate chapters in the United States, Canada, and the Philippines, and over 70 alumni chapters, you won't be finding many keg parties or wild initiations at this fraternity. Mu Phi Epsilon is a professional music fraternity with over 75,000 members worldwide, and it is America's oldest coed music fraternity, founded in Cincinnati in 1903. The mission of Mu Phi Epsilon is to provide service to others through the art of music, to develop and nurture the potential leadership qualities of its members, to promote scholarship, and encourage loyalty, inspiration, and the very highest level of musicianship attainable. In its endeavor to share these gifts, it has gained status as a non-profit organization that seeks to help young musicians who have taken on serious study of music. Among their many activities, Mu Phi Epsilon routinely provides financial aid to talented and motivated students across America who are pursuing the study of music. Many thousands of dollars are raised and distributed annually by local chapters. Mu Phi Epsilon's active, energetic New York Chapter is no exception. The New York City Alumni Chapter was formally installed on December 5, 1921, but had been active as an Alumni Club since November of 1917. The New York City Alumni Chapter currently pledges three annual grants to community music schools and conservatory preparatory divisions in the New York area, including Bloomingdale School of Music, to provide tuition support for young, gifted students who demonstrate a significantly strong commitment to their course of study. Those who receive this scholarship are considered according to merit. The president of the New York City Alumni Chapter keeps in close communication with the directors of these schools to consider and finally determine each year's scholarship winners. For the last nine years, the advanced category of the Bloomingdale Performance Competition has been sponsored by the New York City Alumni Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon. The NYC Alumni Chapter treasurer is pianist Dr. Paul Verona and president is Dr. Monica Verona, who is also a pianist and Resident Teaching Artist at Bloomingdale School of Music. They also happen to be siblings. "Mu Phi Epsilon does good both for its members and for the community," says Paul. Like a lot of members, the two Veronas joined Mu Phi Epsilon to network with other musicians and advance their careers as performers. "Mu Phi is comprised of professional musicians who have active careers large and small, but active nonetheless," says Monica. She hastens to point out that in addition to the professional work the chapter does, she feels the social aspect of membership is also important for musicians. "As far as the social part of the chapter, we've met some really great people—talented and dedicated. They have all been supportive of our concerts and scholarships, and they know what a challenge a life in music is, but appreciate the personal rewards of musical creativity. Fraternities can inspire friendships, personal and professional. Musicians can lead isolated lives. Sometimes it's nice to be able to connect with others who are doing the same thing you're doing and talk about ideas." The NYC Alumni Chapter presents four concerts each year and all proceeds from admission are applied to the scholarship fund. The first is a presentation of each year's scholarship winners in conjunction with the yearly Founders Day celebration held in December, and includes performances by chapter members. The second is the Annual Beethoven Concert featuring performances by NYC Alumni Chapter members. The third is a Special Presentation "Distinguished Artist" Recital by one NYC Alumni Chapter member. The fourth is an NYC Alumni Chapter Concert featuring chapter members in a variety of music. This year two Bloomingdale School of Music students were awarded Mu Phi Epsilon scholarships. Flutist Vinicio Haro and violinist Edward Hardy will perform on the December concert. "I'm actually very proud of our scholarship effort," Monica remarks. "A couple of years ago we received a very substantial gift to buy recording equipment for our chapter and in my acknowledgment letter to the donor, I listed our past scholarship winners in order to let the donor know that their gift was not only well appreciated, but that we are committed to supporting and encouraging young students in their musical study." |
|
|||||
|
|||||||
Trumpet
player Brandon Vazquez (Bloomingdale School), in addition to performing,
is director of the Music Access Project at the Bloomingdale School of
Music.
Violinist Jessica
Beberaggi, within one year of her award at the Bloomingdale School of Music,
went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division and now
studies violin at SUNY-Purchase.
Clarinetist Bingyang
Zhu, winner of the MPE scholarship at the Bloomingdale School of Music for
three consecutive years, was also winner of the school's concerto competition.
He completed undergraduate studies in business at Cornell University and now
works for Morgan Stanley in Manhattan.
Soprano Samantha
Margulies studied voice at the Bloomingdale School of Music and was 1st prize
winner of their performance competition while also performing in musical theater
productions with the Pied Piper Players in Manhattan.
Pianist Scott
Schultheis, winner of the MPE scholarship at the Bloomingdale School of Music
for two consecutive years, now attends the University of Rochester studying art
and continues to study piano privately.
Violinist Joshua Rim,
winner of the MPE scholarship at the Bloomingdale School of Music for two consecutive
years, was also 1st prize winner of their performance competition and now
attends Williams College.