That's a great question! The SmorgasChorus is a men's Barbershop chorus located in Wichita, KS. Members of the SmorgasChorus come from all walks of life. Our members range in age from teenagers all the way to their 70s. We have students, teachers, engineers, businessmen and members who are retired. While some of our members are music educators, the majority of us are not.
Our members consist of a wide variety of musical and performance backgrounds. Some of us have been singing and performing since childhood. Others have sung in church choirs or groups in school, whether High School or College. Still others have never been part of a formal singing group before. Many of our members have never had an exposure to Barbershop before hearing the SmorgasChorus performing at various community events or concerts.
The only thing we all have in common is a love of music, an appreciation of the unique Barbershop sound, a dedication to perfecting our music and performances, and a commitment to each other as brothers and friends. We believe that we can only be the best chorus that we can be and achieve our goals by fostering that brotherhood. In addition to our normal rehearsals and performances, the chorus gets together with our fellow chorus members and our families to fellowship and just enjoy each others company.
How do you know if you would like to join us? Ask yourself the following questions.
If you answered yes to ANY of these questions, please come join us at our next guest night or even just stop by one of our rehearsals! There is no commitment to see what we are all about and we would love to have you there! If you aren't quite ready to check us out in person yet, feel free to check out our videos on this site, find us on Facebook or even email us at the contact information here.
The mission of the SmorgasChorus is to enrich our community through music, support music education, encourage and preserve the barbershop art form, and inspire our young members to be excellent through music.
In the early 1990's a tradition began at Butler Community College known as the Smorgaschords. This male barbershop quartet is always a crown favorite at BCC vocal performances. Additionally, the "Smorgies" have performed and competed annually in the Barbershop Harmony Society's conventions and contests.
In 2011, Valerie Lippoldt Mack, Head of Vocal Music at BCC, was to be honored by the Central States District of the Barbershop Harmony Society for her work in music education and her support of barbershop harmony. Duane Lawson, who was in the very first Smorgaschords group, began contacting all of the former Butler alumni and current Butler music students to ask if they would put together a special chorus to perofm at her awards cermony. This was the first meeting of the SmorasChorus and they were a hit!
The guys enjoyed getting together and singing so much that they decided to continue to meet on a regular basis and possibly make the group an official chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The group received an official charter in 2012, just in time to compete in their first Barbershop Harmony Society Contest. They are the 2012, 2013 and 2015 Central States District Plateau A Chorus Champions and are the 2017 Plateau AA champs. In 2017, the Smorgies made their International Competition debut, placing 16th ouf of the 30 top ranked choruses in the world. They have since competed at the International Competion in 2018 and are set to compete again in Salt Lake City in 2019.
The SmorgasChorus has been honored to sing for several Wichita and Kansas organizations. These organizations include the Kansas Choral Directors Association Summer Convention (2013), The Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop (2015/2018), and the Wichita - Humanitarian Awards (2015). We also are actively engaged in multiple symposiums with local community educators and their students.
The South Central Kansas SmorgasChorus is an official chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
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