Omaha, Neb Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society
Omaha is home of the oldest barbershop chapter in Nebraska, and is indeed one of the Society’s oldest continuously operated chapters. Our formal beginning was in the form of a letter to the Society secretary, dated September 4, 1943. In part, the letter stated "We have a grand bunch of fellows, and they are organized on such a basis that we have every opportunity to hold an organization together which will exist for many years." Those were prophetic words indeed; hundreds of men from all walks of life have been members of the Omaha Chapter in the ensuing years.
Just a few short years after the chapter began, Omaha hosted the Society’s annual convention and quartet contest in 1950. The championship quartet that year was the Buffalo Bills, who went on to entertain thousands in both the Broadway and movie presentations of “The Music Man”.
Many of our past members were active duty military who came to Omaha as part of their service, sang as part of the chorus and in quartets, and then went to serve elsewhere, also helping to spread their joy of barbershopping to others. At one point, in fact, we had an active duty, dues-paying member who was a three star Air Force general!
The chapter chorus—originally named Ak-Sar-Ben Chorus, later the Central Statesmen, and presently known as the Heartland Harmonizers—and chapter quartets continue to spread the sound of barbershop harmony throughout the area. We have appeared several times at the College World Series and numerous local sporting events, and featured at the Durham Museum’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
Omaha is home of the oldest barbershop chapter in Nebraska, and is indeed one of the Society’s oldest continuously operated chapters. Our formal beginning was in the form of a letter to the Society secretary, dated September 4, 1943. In part, the letter stated "We have a grand bunch of fellows, and they are organized on such a basis that we have every opportunity to hold an organization together which will exist for many years." Those were prophetic words indeed; hundreds of men from all walks of life have been members of the Omaha Chapter in the ensuing years.
Just a few short years after the chapter began, Omaha hosted the Society’s annual convention and quartet contest in 1950. The championship quartet that year was the Buffalo Bills, who went on to entertain thousands in both the Broadway and movie presentations of “The Music Man”.
Many of our past members were active duty military who came to Omaha as part of their service, sang as part of the chorus and in quartets, and then went to serve elsewhere, also helping to spread their joy of barbershopping to others. At one point, in fact, we had an active duty, dues-paying member who was a three star Air Force general!
The chapter chorus—originally named Ak-Sar-Ben Chorus, later the Central Statesmen, and presently known as the Heartland Harmonizers—and chapter quartets continue to spread the sound of barbershop harmony throughout the area. We have appeared several times at the College World Series and numerous local sporting events, and featured at the Durham Museum’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
