Mu Phi Epsilon, one of the professional music fraternities on campus, will be hosting a student showcase at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4 in the Recital Hall in the Alexander Music Building. All attendees are eligible to receive Learning Beyond the Classroom (LBC) credit.
This free music event will bring together several musical organizations to show the diversity of musical styles and talents that can be found on our campus.
While Eastern Michigan University has a robust music department, there are many groups outside the department that convene for the sole purpose of making music together. The showcase is a new event aiming to be a unique concerted effort to show what kinds of music EMU students have to offer.
“This [showcase] is a way for us, as musicians, to branch out into the campus,” said Jeanette Joseph, programs director of Mu Phi Epsilon. Joseph, a junior Music Education major, was primarily responsible for the organization of the showcase.
She remarked on the relative decentralization of musical organizations around campus, “There’s a huge music scene out there that just isn’t integrated.”
She mentioned that within the department of music and dance alone there are four or five large student organizations, and in the general student population there are “countless” student groups in the fine arts.
“It’s a serious crime that these groups don’t have communication with each other,” said Joseph. She hopes to establish the showcase as an annual event that will be a cornerstone of fostering unity among the various musical groups.
The program will include performances by members of Mu Phi Epsilon and Kappa Kappa Psi, the marching band service fraternity, several small ensembles and the Gospel Choir. There will also be a dance performance and interactive performance by the Music Therapy Students Association (MTSA). The MTSA will be giving a demonstration of what music therapy is like ‘in the field.’
The program represents just the beginnings of the kind of the variety the showcase aims to exhibit.
“It’s innovative. Bringing all the arts together for one big performance,” said Adam Sniezek, a junior Music Education major. Sniezek is part of the Programs Committee of Mu Phi Epsilon that organized the showcase.
Sniezek commented on the apparently insular nature of the music major, which due to the required classes being located entirely in the Alexander Music Building, tend to “trap music majors in Alex.” But the department of music and dance is anything but insular, as the showcase hopes to prove.
In fact, Joseph said one of the reasons she was attracted to the Music Department was the camaraderie and congeniality, “It’s a great community of musicians looking to better themselves.”
Mu Phi Epsilon gives its members the chance to meet new people and form lasting friendships. “It’s such a family,” Joseph said.
Mu Phi Epsilon focuses on serving the musical community, not just at Eastern but around town, by organizing benefit concerts and volunteering musical services. Recently students visited a local hospital and volunteered their time to play music for patients and their families.
“This is a great opportunity to bring all the arts together,” said Sniezek. “It’s going to be very exciting.”
