The Fraternity is proud to announce the availability of almost 70 Sinfonia Songs through online distribution sites such as iTunes. The songs are compiled in a three-volume set. All net profit from the sales of these recordings will be donated to the Sinfonia Educational Foundation.
The recordings follow the order they appear in the Centennial Edition of Sinfonia Songs. Only a handful of Sinfonia Songs are excluded from the compilation; some songs are copyrighted by an external party, while the Fraternity did not possess high-quality recordings of a few others.
The compilation is comprised of recordings covering more than 10 years. The majority of the recordings were produced by John Cereso, Rho Chi (Fredonia State) ’91, and Steve Scharren, Epsilon (Michigan) ’96, from recordings made from 1997 to 1999 for their popular two-volume set, A Century of Brotherhood. Brother Cereso, treasurer and a trustee of the Sinfonia Educational Foundation, generously permitted the Fraternity to use his recordings for the majority of this new compilation. Additional recordings were added in January 2008 during a Sinfonia Songs recording festival held in Evansville, Indiana, under the leadership and direction of Brian Stratton, Delta Omega (Southeastern Louisiana) ’79, Governor of Province 14 (Louisiana) and past National Vice President.
The songs are available for individual purchase or as albums (in three volumes). iTunes is the first of the online distribution channels to post the recordings, but they are expected to be added to other similar sites in the coming months. A glitch in the distribution process has resulted in only Volumes 1 and 3 being available as of the time of this announcement, but Volume 2 should be available within a matter of days.
Several brothers who have already discovered the recordings on iTunes have expressed a concern regarding certain tracks which are contained within some of the Fraternity’s private ceremonies. In response, the National Headquarters staff has explained that the songs themselves are not secret — much like the Sinfonia Songs book is not secret — only the specifics of which songs are included in which ceremonies is secret. The songs in question are also part of at least one public Fraternity ceremony.
Because this project has been launched as a fundraiser for the Sinfonia Educational Foundation, the Fraternity asks all brothers to resist the temptation to share the downloaded recordings. The recordings are subject to the same copyright regulations as all other commercially available music, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Inc., retains all copyrights on Sinfonia Songs.
The Fraternity asks all chapters to feature the song’s availability in upcoming alumni newsletters and electronic communications.
