On Jan. 31, 2025, Philomusica hosted its first club meeting. In the year since, the club’s activities have ranged from music slideshow nights, live music karaoke, rap battles and even a rave. The club is under new leadership this semester, and is still determining rescheduled meeting times and an anniversary activity.
The name Philomusica combines the Greek prefix “philos,” loving, and “musica,” the Latin word for music. The anniversary meeting is not scheduled yet, but the club has established a unique identity on campus. According to club co-president Milo Tyler, first-year psychology major, diversity and openness best describe the group’s culture.
“It wasn’t so much about our shared music tastes, but just exploring every genre, and I think we all came together when we made a song,” Tyler said. “It was kinda silly. It was a medieval-style rap song that we all took part in. We all listened to different music, but that shared music activity is what I really look forward to.”
Along with his co-president, Kaz McNelis, first-year undecided major, Tyler said he plans to continue the tradition of laid-back club activities with more discussions, jam sessions and live music events.
The idea of the club was to share the love of music, and to revive an old Trinity event: Coates Library Flash Rave. The event, held by the Student Programming Board during finals week from 2009 to 2012, allowed students a study break to dance and rave. Although the event was popular on campus, it was short-lived. That is, until Ana Barba, junior computer science major, came around.
“It was an ongoing joke to start a petition to start the rave back, but then it got to be a little more serious than a joke,” Barba said.
When their petition wasn’t successful, Barba and friends tried to organize the event themselves. However, without the backing of a club, she said that organizing such an event proved difficult. Thus, the Philomusica club was born. Barba compares the raves prior to the club’s first library rave on April 28, 2025. Even though the more recent rave was longer, it was not as well attended, Barba said.
That did not discourage the club from hosting another this year. Philomusica aims to spread the word, and they have been in contact with Coates Library about a possible date for the rave.
Barba said she knew the club wouldn’t be sustainable if its only role is to organize the annual rave. According to McNelis, the founding members of Philomusica built the club to be more than just a music appreciation club. It has become a community.
“It’s great to learn not only people’s taste [in music], but also what they are like as a person,” McNelis said. “It’s really nice to have that community.”
McNelis said that the club looks forward to another year of music-loving: karaoke nights, rap battles and, of course, raves.
