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Judy Divis is a former music educator and accomplished musician who’s played viola with the Omaha Symphony for 37 years and serves as president of the Omaha Chamber Music Society (OCMS). She was a youth when her music studies began—days of newfound wonder and hard-won experience that continue to color her perspective. She learned about music, but also perseverance, and gained confidence in her ability to learn just about anything, Divis said. Today, she enjoys the opportunity to guide young musicians in her work with “side-by-side” events—pairing student and professional musicians in addition to youth outreach activities.
“When you give a kid an instrument and you show them how to play that instrument, and then you show them a professional that they get to hear play the instrument…what a gift that is,” she said. “For many artists, they kind of bond with their art. I think that as we develop technologically as a society, we must also include the nurturance of the humanity side of our lives—music does that. For one thing, you have to be present and involved. You’re learning a discipline, skill; you’re learning how to listen and communicate.”
Divis has also learned to listen for instruments that need a little help. As a professional, Divis knows firsthand the importance of soundness (as in well-maintained) in the sound (as in musical quality) of an instrument. Still, instrument maintenance and repair can be costly for families, and many student-musicians are forced to make do with a flawed instrument. So, about five years ago, Divis began seeking resources and support for the upkeep of student-owned instruments, which led to her founding what has become Good Vibrations. The program aims to maintain and repair instruments belonging to students in Omaha-area Title I schools.
Omaha Chamber Music Society General Manager Jay Wise said that student-owned instruments are often family heirlooms, handed down to students. They’re a source of both pride and emotional attachment, but without proper maintenance, may be hardly playable.
“It became Judy’s dream to help get these instruments repaired and restored. In 2018, she partnered with Omaha luthier Sarah Gray and was able to raise some modest funds to repair a collection of instruments for students at Bryan Middle School, where all three of her kids attended and participated in school orchestra. Under Divis’s leadership, Good Vibrations has since raised some $80,000 and repaired over 300 instruments,” Wise said. “She still has a strong connection to Bryan Middle School, and reports that those first restored instruments are still being played, sometimes by a younger sibling. Her program, besides restoring instruments, has as a goal educating teachers and students on the proper care and maintenance of stringed instruments. She’s gratified to see those first instruments still being lovingly cared for and played.”
Wise describes Good Vibrations as a one-of-a-kind program.
“Judy’s goal is not necessarily musical, but personal. School music is a valuable—and maybe even vital—tool for teaching individual accomplishment, teamwork, camaraderie, goal setting, and building self-esteem,” Wise said. “She wants to help support successful and energetic people who will in turn give back to their communities.”
Good Vibrations initially focused on string instruments, with Divis capitalizing on a trusted relationship with Sarah Gray of Sarah E. Gray Restoration who had worked on Divis’s violas in the past; it now shares space in the Flatiron Building in downtown Omaha as part of Gray’s connections with Flatiron Luthier Cooperative, which became one of Good Vibrations’ early supporters. Omaha Public Schools Foundation is another key partner who has helped the relatively new organization grow and evolve. The program has expanded to all instrument categories and also takes in used instruments. The third annual instrument drive, with the University of Nebraska Omaha’s classical music station KVNO, took place in August and brought more than 30 instruments along with monetary support to the program. Divis said the total number of instruments refurbished by Good Vibrations is well into the hundreds.
“I stopped counting,” Divis confessed.
Along with the instrument program, Divis has also sought funding for promising young musicians to receive private lessons with area professional musicians from her post at the Omaha Chamber Music Society. The scholarship students include violin, trumpet, bass, and clarinet aspirants. Divis said both Good Vibrations and the Omaha Chamber Music Society education program have received an outpouring of support and encouragement from the community.
“I love how much everybody’s on board. I have a great team of people to work with, everybody embraces the idea, and it is wonderful. And every single minute of all the work that I do will be worth it if one child has a better life,” Divis said. “Music has saved my life more times than I care to enumerate.”
For more information on Good Vibrations or the OCMS programs, visit omahachambermusic.org/good-vibrations.
This article originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
