Once a Sinfonian, Always a Sinfonian!

Welcome to the Web site of the Chicago Area Alumni Association of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. We are a group of men in the Chicagoland area that come from colleges and universities all across the United States, that wish to continue the fraternal experience of Sinfonia. We build new fraternal bonds among all alumni brothers in the Chicagoland area through social events, volunteerism and musical activities.

Within our association, we have brothers from Bradley University, Eastern, Northern, & Western Illinois Universities, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Oklahoma State University, Truman State University, and Valparaiso University, to name a few. Please take a look around and contact one of the officers to get involved! All are welcome!

Sinfonia was born on October 6, 1898 at the New England Conservatory in Boston, when a group of thirteen young men under the guidance of Ossian Everett Mills met “to consider the social life of the young men students of that institution” and “to devise ways and means by which it might be improved.” Mills, bursar of the Conservatory, sought to create an Order in which men with a shared love of music could develop the virtues of manhood in themselves and in their fellows. Sinfonia became a national fraternity on October 6, 1900, with the admission of a group of men at the Broad Street Conservatory in Philadelphia. Since that time Sinfonia has grown into the largest music fraternity in the world, with more than 150,000 initiates, and chapters on over 200 college and university campuses across the nation, and more than 105,800 currently active alumni. The Object of this Fraternity shall be for the development of the best and truest fraternal spirit; the mutual welfare and brotherhood of musical students; the advancement of music in America, and loyalty to the Alma Mater.

A common phrase heard among brothers in the Fraternity is “Once a Sinfonian, Always a Sinfonian.” The spirit of this phrase has fostered alumni loyalty for more than one hundred years. As an alumni member, the opportunities to remain active with the Fraternity are limitless. Alumni associations, scattered throughout the country, provide more formalized ways for alumni Sinfonians to gather together and further the ideals and Object of the Fraternity.

For over a century, Sinfonians in nearly every field of study and professional endeavor have transformed the face of music in America. Today, the Brotherhood represents a diverse group of individuals spanning the nation, who continue the proud tradition of advancing the Fraternity’s Object.