The University of Oregon’s Nu chapter of international music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon will host a benefit concert at Emmaus Lutheran Church at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
The proceeds of the $10-per-ticket benefit will facilitate the attendance of a high school student at the UO Concert Band Camp this summer. The co-ed fraternity — composed of music students at a variety of educational levels representing an assortment of instruments — views service opportunities, such as benefit concerts, as a way to give back to the community by utilizing their musical talent.
“The aim of Mu Phi Epsilon is to promote musicianship, scholarship, therapy and education with an emphasis on service through music,” Nu chapter President Grace Ho said. “We wanted to raise money for a good cause, and this is something that we can believe in. We can believe in a person, and it is something that the community can get behind as well.”
The concert will showcase individual performances from eight of Mu Phi Epsilon’s top music performers playing a broad range of instruments from violin to percussion. The organization hopes to raise at least 600 dollars, which is the approximate cost of sending one student to the six-day camp. According to Ho, the scholarship will provide an important opportunity to a deserving high school student in the midst of funding cuts to the arts in public education, especially in Oregon.
“We are looking to support someone who really needs it. They’re cutting down on funding for music education in public schools, so if a school doesn’t have a strong program, then it would be nice to provide a musician from that school with this opportunity,” she said.
Ho believes that events like the UO Concert Band Camp can make a significant impact in performance of aspiring young musicians.
“It’s really great to be in an environment where you have this intensity where all you do is really live and breathe music. You’re around people who are the same as you and it’s a really inspiring experience,” Ho said. “It’s a great opportunity to really make a lot of improvement in one week.”
After the concert, the Nu chapter’s primary objective is to choose a scholarship recipient. Interested high school candidates will apply for the scholarship electronically by the end of May by submitting both a video performance of their chosen instrument and a testimonial with responses to questions about their future musical aspirations. According to Ho, the candidate will be selected based not only on their need and performance ability, but also according to their creativity.
“As musicians, it’s important that we can show our personality, not just hide behind our instruments,” she said. “We really want to get to know the applicants and a video allows them an opportunity to show their personality.”
Thursday’s benefit concert is the Nu chapter’s inaugural attempt at providing scholarships for attendance at the UO Concert Band Camp. Although the group is focused on providing funding for only one student this year, they are optimistic that Thursday’s event will provide the success necessary to continue scholarship endeavors in the future.
“If we are able to raise enough money, it opens the possibility of creating a fund to continue this scholarship effort in the future, or even be able to sponsor more than one kid this year,” Ho said.