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Sinfonia celebrates music, fraternity


The brothers of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia presented an evening in celebration of brotherhood and music.

The evening began with the Sigma Psi Choir singing the "Sinfonian Motto," by Robert A. M. Moss, and "Hail Sinfonia," by Sir Arthur Sullivan, arranged by Louis Victor Saar.

The choir also sang "Night Shadow Falling," by Friedrich F. Fleming; "Companions All," by Walter Rodby; "Serenade to a Girl," arranged by Robert Rogers; and "Red and Black," which is a traditional song.

In "Companions All," the choir celebrated music perfectly in song with, “Let sounds of music fill the air...”

Along with the Sigma Psi Choir of Phi Mu Alpha, many brothers performed instrumental selections. A few professors also performed in the musicale.

In "Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano," by Malcolm Arnold, Michael Walsh, instructor of music, played the clarinet with accompaniment by Dr. Elaine Harriss, associate professor of Music, on the piano.

In the second movement of the piece, Walsh played a pleasant, gentle melody with dark tones and sharp piano chords. The third movement had sharp notes with rapid finger movement on the clarinet.

“The piece was great,” said April Collins, a senior Music major from Clarksville. “Professor Walsh performed a very difficult piece. There were a lot of technical difficulties in the third movement, and the tone quality, which was hard to achieve, was awesome throughout the piece.”

In "When the Bell in the Lighthouse Rings Ding, Dong" by Alfred Salmon, Steven Westbrook sang magnificently for his first solo vocal performance in Phi Mu Alpha. Lewis Thompson accompanied Westbrook on the piano.

Westbrook has excellent an voice, and the selection he chose truly showcased his singing abilities.

“Steven did an excellent job singing,” said Lewis Thompson, a senior Music major from Jackson. “He’s a trumpet player, but he has a great voice for singing.”

Gary Nichols truly shined on his selection of "Piano Man," by Billy Joel. In the piece, Nichols played the harmonica and the piano. He also added great vocals to his performance.

“I enjoyed seeing Gary perform,” said Debra Fesmire, a senoir Elementary Education major from Lexington. “It’s one of my favorite songs, and he performed it very well. He’s very multi-talented.”

A lighter side to the musicale came with the performance of "Bippery No. 7," by Lowell E. Shaw.

Justin Condron played the trombone with Elijah Ellis playing the bass trombone. The piece was very upbeat and peppy and had a recuring melody.

“Our piece went very well,” said Justin Condron, a sophomore Music major from Milan. “I chose it because it was a contrast to the program. "Bippery No. 7" is a little jazzy and I wanted something to play with my little brother.”

Clinton Herron played guitar in "Prelude in E Minor," by Francisco Tarrega. The piece had a nice, tender melody which Herron played with great talent.

Another faculty performance was by Dr. Kevin Lambert, chair of the Music Department, singing tenor in "Nessun Dorma," from "Turandot" by Giacomo Puccini.

Dr. Elaine Harriss accompanied Lambert on the piano. Lambert had a wide range with his booming, tenor vocals and excellent control with his singing.

The musicale ended with the Sigma Psi Choir singing "A Sinfonia Anthem," by W. R. Palm and Augustus O. Palm; and "Parting Song," by Ralph Howard Pendleton, arranged by Rudolph R. Willman. The Sigma Psi Choir was directed by Daniel Spencer.

In the "Parting Song," the brothers asked for all members of Phi Mu Alpha to come on stage and sing with them for one last song.

The performance was truly touching and showed the audience the close brotherhood they share.