Omelan Pleshkevych

Omelan Pleshkevych [Омелян Плешкевич], (b. Aug. 21, 1897, in Makovysko [с. Маковисько, нині Підкарпатського воєводства, Польща]; d. July 1960 in Chicago, Illinois). Choirmaster at St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv (1937) and founder of the SURMA Male Chorus. In 1944, Pleshkevych along with many of his choristers were forced to flee Ukraine for the safety of the DP camps in Germany. For the next three years, the chorus gave hundreds of concerts for refugees and American military personnel living in Germany, Austria, and Italy. Professor Pleshkevych came to the United States with the SURMA Chorus in 1948 and settled in the Chicago area, where he continued directing the group until his death in 1960.

1931–37 – Conductor of student male choir “Bandurist.”

1937–44 – Conductor of male choir “Surma.”

1937–44 – Choirmaster at St. George Cathedral (Lviv).

1948: Came to America.