Our director, Jeff Sykes, is a native Oklahoman and a graduate of Southern Nazarene University. He has been employed with Midland Mortgage for the last couple of years. Jeff has been a member of the OK Chorale for many years, holding the director position since 1998. He has performed in musical theater, most notably as a quartet member in the Music Man with Lyric, Jewel Box, Poteet Theatre of St. Luke’s Methodist, and a West Moore High School production. Jeff has been in several quartets including Cimarron, Riff Raff, Woodshed, and SWD Finalist Attaboy’s.
As director, Jeff is proud of the OK Chorale and he appreciates the dedication of the members to this vocal art-form and its continued involvement in community performances.
In 1938, the OK Chorale was only the third barbershop chorus to join what is now the Barbershop Harmony Society. In the 70+ years since then, we have enjoyed entertaining audiences in the greater Oklahoma City area and central Oklahoma.
Our chorus has an active membership of almost 60 guys from their teens into their 90’s. Some are outstanding musicians, others just love to sing. The thing that binds us as a chorus and a family is the love of the barbershop sound, the camaraderie during our practices and performances, and the enjoyment of entertaining our audiences.
We often compete in organized Barbershop Harmony Society competitions, and have competed at the International level six times. But we especially enjoy entertaining audiences with our annual shows near Christmas and in the fall, and singing for numerous other occasions. One of our greatest thrills is having seven or eight of our barbershop quartets deliver singing valentines every February.
Our mission statement sums up what we are about very well:
To always place musical excellence first. To encourage the growth and perpetuation of vocal music in all sectors of our community. To present our art form to the public whenever possible. To reach all corners of the great State of Oklahoma with our hobby. To be proud of our performance every time, and to keep fun in our singing so every member enjoys Barbershopping to the fullest.
If you would like to attend one of our upcoming shows, go to our Performances page to see what’s coming up. If you’d like to show up for a practice, whether to simply listen and observe or to get on the risers with us, go to our Sing With Us page. If you have questions about the OK Chorale, call 405-848-SING or e-mail info@okchorale.org.