Kappa Gamma Psi

Kappa Gamma Psi (ΚΓΨ) is a performing arts fraternity in the United States that was founded in 1913. Its last surviving collegiate chapter (Iota) went inactive in 2008, but the National Organization continues and is founding alumni chapters. Its membership was restricted to males, before it became coeducational in the 1970s.

Founding
Kappa Gamma Psi was founded on December 11, 1913 by twelve faculty members at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Chapters
The fraternity originally had chapters at 13 universities throughout the United States (the New England Conservatory, the University of Michigan, Ithaca College, the Boston Conservatory, the University of Utah, Pennsylvania State University, Boston University, the University of Alabama, Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech University, the Chicago Musical College, the Cincinnati School of Music, and DePaul University). Iota Chapter, at Ithaca College in upstate New York (founded in 1929), the last active chapter, went inactive in 2008. Members of several former chapters remain in contact and gather periodically.

Composition contest and commissioned works
Kappa Gamma Psi Iota chapter (Ithaca College) used to sponsor a competition for new compositions. The widely performed band composition The Leaves Are Falling, by the American composer Warren Benson, was commissioned by Kappa Gamma Psi in 1963. Deux Preludes, a work for flute, clarinet, and bassoon by the Czech-born composer Karel Husa, was commissioned by the Iota chapter in 1966. Elie Siegmeister's Sextet for Brass and Percussion was commissioned in 1966. In 1974, the Iota chapter commissioned Alfred Reed's Double Wind Quintet.

Notable members
Halim El-Dabh, composer (1921-2017)
Bert Remsen, actor (1925–1999)

Notable honorary members
Harold Bauer
Joseph Bonner
Pablo Casals
Philip Greeley Clapp
Ferdinand Dunkley
George Eastman
Duke Ellington
Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Philip Hale
Louis Hasselmans
Hans Kindler
Fritz Kreisler
Erich Leinsdorf
George Longy
Béla Böszörményi-Nagy
Ignace Paderewski
Attilio Poto
Leroy Robinson
Jesús María Sanromá
Nicholas Schwalt
Elie Siegmeister
Lawrence Tibbett
Roman Tottenburg
Bruno Walter
William L. Whitney

References

External links
Kappa Gamma Psi official site

Category:1913 establishments in Massachusetts
Category:Student organizations established in 1913
Category:Student societies in the United States