On Saturday February 10th 2024, the Registered Student Organization (RSO) titled “The Marymount Instrumental Music Association” (a.k.a. MIMA), held their first official meeting in Commons West. In this meeting, students of interest were welcomed to share their musical background, why they want to be involved, and discuss the future of the RSO with the council members.
The council consists of Marymount students Broedy Geary (President), Bella Panico and Ava Cintron (Co-Vice Presidents), Trevor Ross (Treasurer), Chris Mac (Secretary), and Milan Parodie (Public Relations Representative), with Andy Warshaw as the Faculty Advisor.
Taking a moment to discuss the beginning of the RSO with Co-Vice President Bella Panico who revealed that the club initially started with a group chat titled “Revive the Music” saying, “We’re doing this because we want a space for musicians and people who love music to be able to collaborate with each other and to learn.” Her personal goal as a participant of the club is being able to talk with other musicians in hopes of improving her skills when it comes to getting “what’s in her head and what’s in her heart” out there.
Though it may seem hard to believe, MIMA is the first of its kind at Marymount, at least for a very long time. Many instrumental based musicians at Marymount didn’t have a community on campus in which they could collaborate and bond with. President Broedy Geary shared a bit about this and why the club is crucial for t
he MMC community as a whole. “We are a liberal arts college in New York that advertises ourself as being ‘new york’s creative college’ but we have no music program. There’s so many programs [at MMC] that use music but there’s no incorporation of students into that.” Having an Instrumental Music Association at Marymount provides an opportunity for collaboration within the other p
erformance opportunities we have to offer, including but not limited to, other student run plays and musicals who might benefit from incorporating live music into their process.
At the end of the discussion with Geary, the question was asked what he might say to anyone who would be interested in MIMA, “Come check us out!” he said, “Even if you’re not an instrumentalist yourself or maybe you aren’t sure whether or not this is the thing for you. You may find a place that you weren’t expecting to find. This is our chance to make music at Marymount!”
There is currently no set recurring meeting time for the club, however, there are future plans for a bi-weekly “Music Book Club” (official name TBD) that will focus on discussions pertaining to a different musical theme or genre at every meeting. According to Co-Vice President Bella Panico, it’s the perfect opportunity for Marymount students to “talk about music with musicians” and “geek out about” their musical passions.
They also plan to have a weekly “Songwriters Circle” led by one of the council members, where MMC students will have the ability to come in and share their songwriting work or journey thus far. Students who are interested will have the opportunity to bounce ideas off of other students in
the room, as well as receive and give feedback. Their first session will be Friday March 1st, from 7:30pm to 10:30pm.
Additional goals for the club consist of industry masterclass opportunities, collaborations with other performance based RSOs, various fundraisers, club “Jam Sessions” and an end of the semester showcase. Their long-term goal is to serve as the main point of contact for Marymount related music opportunities. You can catch any of these activities and further club information at the MIMA instagram account: @mima_mmc.
