AHA’s Tri-M Chapter Shows Support for the Paterson Music Project

Holy Angels’ Tri-M Music Honor Society is encouraging the City of Paterson’s youngest residents to pursue instrumental music. This spring, Tri-M Chapter 2150 donated $500 to the Paterson Music Project, a tuition-free, after school program run through the nonprofit Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts.

“We chose WIPA as our beneficiary because we felt that it most aligned with the mission of Tri-M Music Honor Society in regard to community service, inclusivity, and creativity,” said Tri-M President Mary Quimbo.

WIPA includes the New Jersey Youth Symphony, a Performing Arts School for students of all ages, and the Paterson Music Project. Quimbo noted that Tri-M specifically chose to support the Paterson Music Project, which empowers Paterson’s young people through music education.

According to whartonarts.org, PMP serves over 200 students. PMP partners with the Paterson Public Schools to run programs at three school buildings. William Paterson University provides space for PMP’s band.

“Our executive board was really captivated by their work and wanted to allocate our fundraising efforts to the organization,” Quimbo said of PMP. “We hope that our funds will help provide better educational resources and instruments that are most optimal for the children’s musical learning experience.”

This is the first time Tri-M has assisted WIPA, but Quimbo hopes the chapter will continue to donate to WIPA and other similar organizations.

Tri-M Adviser Dan Mahoney explained that the chapter’s members raised funds by contributing videos of their musical performances for viewing during the Angels in the Arts’ “Applaud the Arts Auction.” The $500 that was donated to PMP represented the proceeds of a 50/50 held during the auction preview. The day of the auction, the $1,000 raised through the 50/50 yielded $500 for Tri-M. The individual who won the balance of the funds gave the majority of her winnings back to Tri-M. Chapter members were then able to donate the proceeds to an organization of their choice.

Founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1879, the Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private girls’ school in Bergen County. While AHA is steeped in Catholic tradition, this prestigious high school serves young women from a broad spectrum of cultural and religious backgrounds. Over time, thousands of women have passed through AHA’s portals. Many go on to study at some of the nation’s best universities, earning high-ranking positions in medicine, government, law, education, public service, business, arts, and athletics. The Academy’s current leaders continue to further the SSND mission to provide each student with the tools she needs to reach the fullness of her potential—spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically, by offering a first-rate education in a nurturing environment where equal importance is placed on academic excellence, character development, moral integrity, and service to others.