A HISTORY OF MU PHI EPSILON

Our Founders

Mu Phi Epsilon was founded by Winthrop Smith Sterling (1859-1943), Dean of the Metropolitan College of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio and Elizabeth Mathias (1884-1950), his nineteen-year-old assistant. On November 13, 1903 thirteen young women came together to form the Alpha Chapter of what has now become Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Fraternity. In the 1920’s Dr. Sterling left Metropolitan College to become head of the organ department at Miami University in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1908 Elizabeth Mathias married Dr. John Fuqua in Greeley, Colorado. She remained active in music and music therapy. After her husband’s death Elizabeth became Superintendent of Dr. Fuqua’s hospital, Island Grove Hospital in Island Grove Park, Greeley, Colorado.

Purpose and Membership

Mu Phi Epsilon is a nonprofit corporation. The International Bylaws of Mu Phi Epsilon state that its aim is

“the advancement of music in the community, in the nation, and in the world, through the promotion of musicianship, scholarship, and music education, with an emphasis on service through music.”

Membership is limited to music majors and minors, music faculty not already initiated as members in another professional music fraternity, and musicians of achievement who have never joined a professional music fraternity and who desire membership through Special Election.

Chapters

Collegiate chapters continued taking their names from the original Alpha Chapter, progressing through the Greek alphabet and then used the prefixes Mu, Phi, Epsilon, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta. Presently (2005) the prefix Zeta is used for new chapters. International chapters have been Alpha Tau (Philippine Women’s University 1962), Beta Xi (University of the Philippines 1967) and Delta Iota (University of Western Ontario, Canada 1990).

Since 1903 there have been 201 chapters of Mu Phi Epsilon installed on college campuses. After graduation or leaving school the collegiate members are encouraged to affiliate with a nearby alumni chapter or with the International Fraternity as an Allied Member. As of this writing there are 80 active (142 chartered) collegiate chapters and 56 active (73 chartered) alumni chapters as well as Allied Members living throughout the world.

Geographical Structure

Currently the collegiate and alumni chapters are divided into twelve (12) Provinces and thirty-three (33) Districts within those Provinces. Each District has a District Director and these Directors are managed by the Second Vice President, Collegiate Advisor.

Conventions

The International Bylaws specify the International Convention as the legislative and executive authority of the Fraternity. The International Executive Board (IEB) has this authority during non-convention times. Annual conventions were held from 1904 until 1922, when biennial conventions were adopted. Since 1974 triennial conventions have taken place. An exception of two years was made between 2001 and 2003, and four years between 2003 and 2007 in order to allow a Centennial Convention in the appropriate year of 2003.

Conventions rotate among the Provinces. The 2003 Centennial Convention was held in Cincinnati and hosted by the East Central and North Central Provinces. The 2007 Convention will be hosted by the Atlantic and Southeast Provinces. The International Executive Board, all incoming and continuing District Directors, Committee Chairmen, Business Delegates, Music Delegates, Members and Guests are the participants. Each active Collegiate and Alumni Chapter sends one Business Delegate and the Membership Committee Chairman is the Business Delegate representing all Allied Members.

Milestone Conventions

The Silver Anniversary Convention was the last one attended by Dr. Winthrop Sterling. It was held at Troutdale-in-the-Pines, Colorado. Salt Lake City was the site of the Golden Anniversary Convention (1953, observed in 1954). The newly formed Memorial Foundation was officially recognized in Lincoln, Nebraska at the convention commemorating the 60^th anniversary. This 1963 convention was also the first to have international delegates.

A major change occurred in the 1970s with the passage of Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendment Act. This stated that “…there shall be no discrimination as to race, creed, color or sex in election to membership in fraternities/sororities.” In effect Title IX ended the ability of a professional organization to restrict its membership eligibility to a single sex. Therefore the Diamond Jubilee Convention in Kansas City was momentous in that the Fraternity voted to open its membership to men. In seventy-five years Mu Phi Epsilon changed from a Music Sorority, to an Honorary Music Sorority, then a Professional Music Sorority and finally to a Coeducational Music Fraternity.

2003 Centennial Convention

The 52^nd National and 16^th International Convention was held in Cincinnati, the founding city. This Centennial Convention was indeed A Sterling Celebration. Dawn Phelps Neal, Phi Nu/Los Angeles, was General Chairman of the Centennial Convention and Marva Nungester Rasmussen, Gamma Alpha/Cincinnati , served as local Chairman assisted by Willena Bourquein Schlueter, Mu Omicron/Cincinnati.

Displays depicting each ten years of history were placed in a room available for viewing during the entire Convention. The following people made this possible: Willena Schlueter, Marilyn Soriano, Mu Omicron, Cincinnati; Katherine Guldberg Doepke, Phi Beta/Minneapolis-St. Paul; Doris Holt Braun,Alpha Kappa/Kansas City; Louise Martel Huddleston, Epsilon Zeta/Washington D.C.; Ruth Diffenbacher Scheer, Phi Pi/Wichita; Ann Gibbens Davis,Phi Lambda/Washington D.C.; Marian Bowker Davidson, Mu Beta/Los Angeles; Kurt-Alexander Zeller, Mu Chi/Delta Psi; and Myrta Borges Knox, Epsilon Xi/Rochester.

Business sessions were interspersed with professional music presentations, gala receptions and luncheons. Some musical performances were at the Classical Music Hall of Fame. Among the memorable events:

A lecture and recital featuring music by composer Zenobia Powell Perry, Gamma Eta/Dayton celebrating her 95^th year and her contributions to American music.

Winthrop Sterling’s Cincinnati featuring research and a video project by Marva Rasmussen and her husband Gary.

Compositions by Patron Leslie Bassett, Ann Arbor, husband of Anita Denniston Bassett, Gamma/Ann Arbor.

A Fantastick Evening! presentation by composer Harvey Schmidt. Together with Tom Jones, Harvey Schmidt wrote many award winning musicals including 110 In the Shade, I DO! I DO!, and the longest-running production in the history of American theatre: The Fantasticks.

Two commissioned works were premiered at the Centennial Centerpiece Concert. The first was A Celebration Octet, by Nancy Bloomer Deussen, Mu Nu/Palo Alto, a prominent composer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has received numerous awards, including first prize in the Mu Phi Epsilon Original Composition Contests in 1985, 1999 and 2005. A Celebration Octet was performed by Mu Phi Epsilon members:

Deborah Ash, Gamma Omicron/Ann Arbor – flute

Martha MacDonald, Phi Xi/Austin – clarinet

Susan Bissiri, Lambda/Ann Arbor – oboe

Patricia Fagan, Mu Eta – bassoon

Melissa Phelps Beckstead, Phi Nu – violin

Kacey Link, Xi – viola

Shelley Phelps Johnson, Mu Nu/Beach Cities South – cello

Bobbette Cameron, Beta Alpha/Beach Cities South – bass

Without a doubt the highlight performance was Symphony No. 7, A Triumphal Trilogy, op. 98 by Dr. Crawford Gates. This work was commissioned by the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation for the centennial. It is a three movement work for soprano, chorus and orchestra. Crawford Gates has composed more than 700 works and has received 20 awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The second movement had as its basis Mu Phi Epsilon’s official song Our Triangle, written by Caliste Conant Walker, Iota Alpha in 1912 and revised in 1995 by Barbara Baker Harris Polome, Mu Chi/Austin. The spectacular soprano soloist in A Triumphal Trilogy was Jeanine Wagner, Epsilon Kappa.

Special Awards at Convention 2003

In addition to the awards given annually by Mu Phi Epsilon to its chapters and members, special awards are presented only in convention years.

Award of Merit – is the highest award given to outstanding members of Mu Phi Epsilon who bring honor to the Fraternity in their field of music.

Awarded to Frances Steiner, Beta/Palos Verdes Peninsula. Dr. Steiner is one of the premier women conductors in the world and presently is Professor of Music at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Previous recipients of the Award of Merit were:

Jean Madeira

Amy Worth

Lucrecia Kasilag

Claudette Sorel

Dorothy DeLay

Joanne J. Baker

Emma Lou Diemer

Joyce G. Jones

Citation of Merit – is awarded to outstanding individuals in the world of music not members of Mu Phi Epsilon, who have contributed in an exceptional way to the goals of the Fraternity.

Awarded to Harvey Schmidt, composer of many award winning musicals including The Fantasticks, the longest running musical in the history of American theatre.

Previous recipients of the Citation of Merit were:

Herman Newman Robert Shaw

Standard School of Broadcast Arthur Rubenstein

Olga Koussevitzky Seiji Ozawa

Herman B. Wells Jack Benny

Howard Hanson Oliver Daniel

Archie N. Jones Arthur Fiedler

Leopold Stokowski Paul Fromm

Leonard Bernstein William Grant Still

Rudolph Ganz Richard Gaddes

The Ford Foundation Jascha Heifetz

Harold Schonberg PBS

Jacob Avshalomov Jester Hairston

E. Thayer Gaston Itzhak Perlman

Earl Vincent Moore Texaco, Inc.

Paul Van Katwijk Sarah Caldwell

AT&T (Bell Telephone Hour) Van Cliburn

Claudette Sorel Aaron Copland

Pablo Casals William Schuman

Eugene Ormandy Ezra Laderman

Guiomar Novaes Ardis Krainik

Marjorie Merriweather Post William Warfield

Nadia Boulanger Maurice Abravanel

Pierre Boulez Victor Borge

Beverly Sills

Pinchas Zukerman

Robert Sherman

Ellis Marsalis

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

John Frohnmayer

Henry Janiec

Lloyd Pfautsch

Bill Cormack

Elizabeth Mathias Award – is an award named in honor of the co-founder of Mu Phi Epsilon, and given to members of the Fraternity in recognition of outstanding and unique achievement in the field of music and music service.

Awarded to Zenobia Powell Perry, Gamma Eta/Dayton. A child of Black and Creek Indian parents, at an early age she studied with Nathaniel Dett and was sponsored in her graduate studies by Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a prolific composer who passed away shortly after the 2003 Convention.

Previous recipients of the Elizabeth Mathias Award were:

Mary DeGarmo

Barbara Kolb

Grace Spofford

Frances Andrews

Helen Hewitt

Anna Husband

Mildred Boggess Andrews

Dorothy James

Merle Montgomery

Shirley Verrett

Beth Miller Harrod

Marilyn Horne

Anita Louise Steele

Frances Bartlett

Blythe Owen

Mary Prudie Brown

Vivian Menees Nelson

Irene Dalis

Diane Bish

Frances Steiner

Ruth Duncan McDonald

Sylvia Meyer Gasch

Ann Gibbens Davis

Bettye Krolick

Katherine Freiberger

The Eleanor Hale Wilson-Rosalie Speciale Lifetime Achievement Award honors members for their lifetime commitment to service in Mu Phi Epsilon beyond the local chapter level. This award was established in 1998.

Awarded to Myrta Borges Knox, Epsilon Xi/Rochester, for her significant service to the Fraternity beyond the local chapter level as Chapter Advisor to Mu Upsilon, District Director, International First Vice President and International ACME Chairman.

Previous recipients of the Eleanor Hale Wilson-Rosalie Speciale Lifetime Achievement Award were:

Beth Kalmbach Shafe, Phi Kappa/Phoenix

Lois Ayres Gordon, Phi Pi/Wichita

International Executive Board

The International Executive Board (IEB) is elected at the International Convention. The present IEB will serve until the 2007 Convention. They are:

Frances Cernich Irwin, Ed.D., Epsilon Upsilon, President, St. Louis, MO

Dale D. Griffa, Epsilon Mu, 1^st Vice President/Extension Officer, Norwalk, CT

Martha MacDonald, D.M.A., Phi Xi, 2^nd Vice President/Collegiate Advisor, Austin, TX

Kurt-Alexander Zeller, D.M.A., Mu Chi, 3^rd Vice President/Alumni Advisor, Morrow, GA

David Champion, Gamma Sigma, 4^th Vice President/Music Advisor, Manhattan Beach, CA

Sister Martha Steidl, Gamma Psi, 5^th Vice President/Eligibility Advisor, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, IN

The current Executive Secretary-Treausurer, selected by the IEB, is Gloria Debatin, Phi Chi/Fresno.

Honorary Advisory Board

The Honorary Advisory Board consists of Past International Presidents. The current Honorary Advisory Board is:

Wynona Wieting Lipsett, Mu Chi, Mexia, TX

Katherine Guldberg Doepke, Phi Beta, Minneapolis, MN

Lee Clements Meyer, Phi Xi, Austin, TX

Past Fraternity Presidents

YEAR NAME TITLE

1904-1905 Elizabeth Mathias Fuqua Supreme President

1905-1907 Myrtal Palmer Leach Supreme President

1907-1908 Elizabeth Mathias Fuqua Supreme President

1908-1911 Elfrieda Langlois Kent Supreme President

1911-1913 Alice Davis Bradford Supreme President

1913-1915 Ora Bethune Johnson Supreme President

1915-1916 Mary Towsley Pfau Supreme President

1916-1917 Roxielettie Taylor Yeates Supreme President

1917-1920 Harriet Thompson Wright Supreme President

1920-1922 Doris Darvey Benson Supreme President

1922-1924 Persis Heaton (title change during her term) Supreme National President

1924-1926 Persis Heaton National President

1926-1928 Lucille Eilers Brettschneider National President

1928-1932 Orah Ashley Lamke National Presidents

1932-1934 Dorothy Elizabeth Paton National President

1934-1940 Bertha Marron King National President

1940-1942 Elizabeth Ayres Kidd National President

1942-1948 Ava Comin Case National President

1948-1950 Margarette Wible Walker National President

1950-1954 Ruth Row Clutcher National President

1954-1958 Eleanor Hale Wilson National President

1958-1962 Rosalie V. Speciale National President

1962-1964 Janese K. Ridell National President

1964-1968 Janet Adams Wilkie National President

1968-1974 Madge Cathcart Gerke National President

1974-1980 Marian Bowker Davidson National President

1980-1983 Ruth Dean Morris National President

1983-1986 Roberta White O'Connell National President

1986-1992 Lee Clement Myer International President

1992-1995 Katherine G. Doepke International President

1995-1998 Wynona Wieting Lipsett International President

1998-2003 Wynona Wieting Lipsett International President

International Committee Chairmen and Special Editors

ACME: (Artists, Composers, Musicologists, Educators): Carolyn Hoover, Mu Pi/Tacoma, Vashon, WA

Bylaws: Terry Merrick, Phi Nu/San Francisco, Kentfield, CA

Finance: Kirsten Forbes, Beta Sigma/Denver, Aurora, CO

Membership: Verna Wagner, Epsilon Iota/Spokane, Spokane, WA

Music Librarian and Archives: Wendy Sistrunk, Mu Mu/Kansas City, Independence, MO

Service, Education, Resource, Volunteer (SERV): Annette Albright,Theta/Muncie, Lake Placid, NY

Standing Rules: Heather Hare, Phi Xi/Houston, Houston, TX

Parliamentarian (retiring): Dr. Mary Philips, Epsilon Eta/San Diego, San Diego, CA

Editor, The Triangle of Mu Phi Epsilon: TBA

“Bookshelf” Editor: Rona Commins, Alpha Delta/Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

“Upon Listening” Editor: Sherry Kloss, Epsilon Upsilon/Muncie, Muncie, IN

Arts Administration Editor: Melissa Eddy, Mu Theta/Austin, Austin, TX

Advertising Editor: Janet Scott, Epsilon Tau/St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Contributing Editors: Wynona Lipsett, Mu Chi/Dallas, Mexia, TX

Doris Braun, Alpha Kappa/Kansas City, Kansas City, MO

Marcus Wyche, Delta Delta/Washington DC, Hyattsville, MD

Click here for a list of Current District Directors

Scholarships, Grants and Awards

Mu Phi Epsilon Fraternity offers a Musicological Research Contest, an Original Composition Contest, the Marian Bowker Davidson Accompanying Award, the Katherine Doepke Creative Programming Award, the Mary Alice Cox Grant for Lifelong Learning, and various awards for its members and chapters.

Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation

The Mu Phi Epsilon Memorial Foundation was established in 1963 and later changed its name to the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation. It was originally funded by the Fraternity’s Friendship and Memorial Funds and in 1963 became a separate corporation with its own tax-exempt status. The Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation was created to honor the Fraternity’s founders and other deceased members and to fund the philanthropic, scholarship and educational activities of Mu Phi Epsilon. Some of the many scholarships and grants are:

Awards and scholarships for undergraduate and graduate musical performance

Music Education awards

Scholarships for study at recognized summer programs

Doctoral grants

Foreign study grants

Scholarships for voice, instruments, music therapy, jazz, music business, and others

An international performance competition with the winner sponsored in a two-year concert tour

2005-06 Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation Board

Jeffrey Hoover, Ph.D., Beta Omega/Allied, President, East Peoria, IL

Keith Bohm, D.M.A., Alpha Delta/Sacramento, Vice President, Rancho Cordova, CA

Sandra Wiese, Zeta/Cleveland, Treasurer, Kirtland, OH

Lenita McCallum, Phi Iota/Palos Verdes, Chairman of the Foundation

Palos Verdes Estates, CA

Yvonne Sabine, Alpha Eta/Washington DC, Vice Chairman and Secretary, McLean, VA

Frances Irwin, Ed.D., Epsilon Upsilon/IEB, St. Louis, MO

Past Foundation Chairmen Past Foundation Presidents

Bettylou Scandling-Hubin, Iota Alpha Rosalie V. Speciale, Phi Mu

1964-1978 1964-1971

Merle Montgomery, Mu Kappa Louis Ayres Gordon, Phi Pi

1978-1983 1971-1978

Ann Gibbens Davis, Phi Lambda Beth Kalmbach Shafe, Phi Kappa

1983-1987 1978-1984

Yvonne Sabine, Alpha Eta Ann Gibbens Davis, Phi Lambda

1987-1988 1984-1987

Jean Sloop, Alpha Alpha Jean Sloop, Alpha Alpha

1988-1989 1987-1989

None Shari Legler, Mu Epsilon

1989-1990 1989-1991

Ann Gibbens Davis, Phi Lambda Ann Gibbens Davis, Phi Lambda

1990-1996 1991-1994

Jeanine Wagner, Epsilon Kappa Wynona Weiting Lipsett, Mu Chi

1996-2001 1994-1995

Yvonne Sabine, Alpha Eta Martha Varnell MacDonald, Phi Xi

2002-2003 1995-1999

Lenita McCallum, Phi Iota Andrew Cooperstock, Mu Kappa

2004-2006 1999-2000

Pamela Pike, Delta Iota

2001-2003

Jeffrey Hoover, Ph.D., Beta Omega

2004-2006

Mu Phi Epsilon International Competition

Perhaps the best known Foundation project is the International Competition held in convention years. Originally named the Sterling Staff Competition when established in 1964 by Claudette Sorel, Beta, the competition is designed to help bridge the gap between the aspiring musician and a concert career. Originally the categories were limited to voice, piano, violin or cello, and flute, with organ and accompaniment categories offered occasionally. In 1995 the competition was opened to voice and all instruments. Winners of each competition are provided booking arrangements and paid transportation for two years as collegiate and alumni chapters sponsor the artist(s) in various cities throughout the United States. In recent years the concert tours have included outreach programs of performances, workshops and/or master classes in the communities where the concerts take place.

Winners of the International Competition

1964 Lynn Lewis,Mu Mu, Piano; Virginia Marks, Alpha Eta, Piano

1966 Asuncion Deiparine Liebe, Epsilon Psi, Voice;

Ann Marie Obressa Miller,Epsilon Phi, Voice

1968 Marian Buck-Lew, Epsilon Nu, Piano; Miyoko Nakaya Lotto, Epsilon Psi, Piano;

Karen Laycock Leonard, Phi Upsilon, Organ

1970 Leone Buyse, Mu Upsilon, Flute;

Jane Bakken Klaviter, Epsilon Xi, Accompanist;

Barbara Gray-Massey, Alpha Mu, Organ

1972 Virginia Belwood- Shelton, Alpha Kappa, Piano;

Yumiko Tabuchi, Beta Epsilon, Piano

1974 Barbra Bailey Bradley, Epsilon Omicron, Accompanist;

Judith Balo Goff, Alpha Nu, Voice;

Sherry Kloss, Epsilon Upsilon, Violin;

Maquette Kuper, Beta, Flute;

Judy May, Epsilon Xi, Voice

1977 Cynthia Donnell, Alpha Xi, Voice; Beverly Hoch, Epsilon Phi, Voice

1980 Julie Rosenfeld, Mu Nu, Violin; Roberta Bebb Veasey, Alpha Xi, Voice

1983 Cheryl Elizabeth House, Mu Nu, Cello

1986 Alan Chow, Epsilon Psi, Piano; Ayako Yonetani, Epsilon Psi, Violin

1989 Carole Marie Harris, Mu Theta, Violin; Alison Young, Mu Nu, Flute

1992 Jeanine Wagner, Epsilon Kappa, Voice

1995 Marilyn Harris, Mu Theta, Cello; Elizabeth Moak, Phi Gamma, Piano

1998 Keith Michael Bohm, Alpha Delta, Saxophone

2001 Jorge Avila, Omega Omega, Violin

2003 Marek Szpakiewicz, Mu Nu, Cello

Other Foundation Philanthropies

Summer tuition scholarships are offered to members of Mu Phi Epsilon attending music programs at Aspen, Banff Music Centre, Brevard Music Center, Chatauqua Institution, Encore School for Strings, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Music Academy of the West, Round Top, and Tanglewood Music