Harry Holmberg, Don Sherrill honored by CSC

Also inducted into the Hall of Fame was Dr. Harry Holmberg, for what Hall of Fame coordinator Dr. William Winkle called “More than 50 years of contribution.”

Holmberg thought he was invited to the dinner in the Chicoine Atrium of the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center to help honor Sherrill. Instead, he also was in the spotlight.

But he soon had to go back to work. A few minutes after the Hall of Fame induction was completed, he had assumed his role as the lead percussionist with the Bordeaux Community Band during its weekly rehearsal.

The 89-year-old Holmberg came to Chadron State in 1953 and was on the faculty for 29 years. During all but the first eight of those years, he was chairman of the Division of Fine Arts. After retiring in 1982, he researched and wrote the history of the CSC fine arts and taught computers to scores of Chadron area residents.

During his brief remarks after he had been honored, Sherrill said that without assistance from former CSC music faculty members such as Holmberg, Winkle and the late Dr. Alfred Blinde, he never would have become an opera singer. He said Chadron State personnel helped him during a period of his life “when I needed it most.”

He was referring to his teen-age years when he and his sister Teresa were living by themselves in Chadron after their mother had graduated from CSC and taken a teaching position in north central Nebraska. He was not allowed to attend Chadron High for what would have been his senior year because the school’s administration ruled no one from his family was supporting him through the district’s tax base.

Although extremely disappointed and even “angry,” in his words, with the decision, Sherrill made arrangements to earn a GED. Word about Sherrill’s vocal talents had made its way to Chadron State, where Holmberg, Blinde and Winkle did some behind the scenes work and had a music scholarship waiting for him when he received the GED.

While at CSC, Sherrill was an outstanding vocalist with a “built-in resonance” in his voice, in Blinde’s words, and earned the college’s outstanding actor awards for his portrayal of Madame Lucy in “Irene” and Don Quixote in “Man of LaMancha.” He graduated in 1981.

While in college and soon afterwards, he spent two summers as an actor and singer at the Post Playhouse at Fort Robinson and three summers at the Black Hills Playhouse at Custer State Park. His first major part in an opera came while he was attending graduate school at the University of South Dakota in “Die Fledermaus”

His first big break came in 1983, when he was chosen to join the apprentice program for singers at the Santa Fe Opera. More than 900 auditioned, and he was the youngest of the 38 to be chosen. Later that year, he was selected to perform with the Lyric Opera, Chicago’s most prestigious.

Within 10 years after graduating, he had sung in nearly every major opera house in the U.S. and 20 foreign countries. The latter number is now 43. He has often been called “One of the most versatile basses in the business as well as one of the best actors.” During the last 10 years, he has seldom had to audition for a part.

Sherrill said last week that one of the major reasons he worked so hard to reach the top in the opera world was he didn’t want to disappoint Dr. Blinde after the long-time CSC vocal music director had helped him so much.

Sherrill was in Chadron as one of the leads in the “3 Redneck Tenors” that was presented at CSC Monday night. The production drew rave reviews from the approximately 500 who attended. The author of the production as well as one of the three tenors, Matthew Lord, said he wrote it “for Don.”

Holmberg was born and raised in Chicago. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University, where he worked his way through school by playing in dance bands. His first job was band director at Boulder, Colo., High School in 1940. While there, he met his late wife, Margaret, on a blind date. They were married in 1944 while he was in the Army.

After World War II ended, he remained in London to take graduate work at the Guildhall School of Music, earning the equivalent of a master’s degree and directing a brass band.

Afterwards, he was assistant band director and music instructor at Iowa State University for two years and band director and assistant professor of music at Beloit, Wis., College for two years before entering Florida State University, where he earned a doctorate in music education and audio visual.

A few weeks after receiving the degree, Holmberg was hired at Chadron State. He still smiles when he recalls that he was offered the job at 10 a.m. on a Friday and was given an hour by CSC President Wiley Brooks to decide if he wanted to accept. He left Chicago the next day, arrived in Chadron on Sunday and began attending faculty meetings on Monday.

“One of my goals has always been to improve and expand music and the appreciation for it,” Holmberg said when he retired from CSC in 1982.

After his wife died in 1990, Holmberg was “looking for something to do” and began exploring computers. He took a course at Chadron State to become “computer literate.” He initially used his new skills to help write the history of the CSC Fine Arts Division. He later taught nearly 200 people of all ages how to operate a computer.

He was inducted into the Nebraska Music Educators Hall of Fame in 1986.