Nebraska Wind Symphony

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Nebraska Wind Symphony

The Nebraska Wind Symphony (NWS) is an adult community band serving Omaha and the surrounding areas.

Approximately 85 musicians from a wide variety of vocational backgrounds perform in this ensemble. Each year NWS performs three formal concerts, a 4th of July outdoor concert, and several other concerts.

09/04/2026

Beveridge Middle School & the Nebraska Wind Symphony present:
Nothing Gold Can Stay

🗓️Sunday, April 26th | 3:00 PM
📍Burke High School
12200 Burke St, Omaha, NE 68154
⭐ Free admission, donations appreciated

🎵Andrew Braun, Director, Beveridge Middle School
Nicholas Spath, Director, Beveridge Middle School
Joshua Kearney, Music Director, NWS
Keith Davis, Associate Music Director, NWS

🎺The Beveridge Middle School Band and the Nebraska Wind Symphony will perform a spring concert on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at 3:00 pm. We invite music lovers of all ages to join in celebrating beauty, love, and joy through music. The concert spans American patriotic works, beloved marches, and contemporary compositions.

06/03/2026

The deadline for our annual wind and percussion scholarship is approaching! Apply today!
Eligibility:
📖 Must be a full time college student
✏️Enrolled in a Nebraska higher ed institution
🎵 Enrolled in a music ensemble
🗓️ All during the 26/27 school year

⭐ ALL Majors are welcome to apply! ⭐

Share! Apply! Information and application can be found linked in the comments.

04/02/2026

‼️ NWS TICKET GIVEAWAY!

We have two tickets to see ULTIMATE MILES
waiting for YOU!

Don’t miss this stunning tribute performance from John Beasley, honoring the incredible influence of Miles Davis.

✅ HOW TO ENTER:
1. FOLLOW US
2. LIKE this post
3. comment below & TAG friends, family, fellow music enthusiasts!

🎟️ WINNERS ANNOUNCED:
Following our winter concert
[MAR. 1 | 7:30PM | UNO STRAUSS PAC |
FREE ADMISSION]
…we will announce the winner of our ULTIMATE MILES GIVEAWAY! Winner(s) will be selected via randomization upon completion of all three entry qualifiers.

—

ULTIMATE MILES:
Sat. Apr 11
7:30 PM
Orpheum Theater
Ticketomaha.com for more details
Thanks to Omaha Performing Arts for sponsoring this giveaway!

Ensemble lead by John Beasley
🎺 Sean Jones
🎷Marcus Strickland
🎸Kurt Rosenwinkel
(BASS) Ben Williams
🥁 Terreon Gully

—

NEBRASKA WIND SYMPHONY:
FREE - WINTER CONCERT
Sun. Mar 1
7:30 PM
UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center
Donations accepted

04/02/2026

Nebraska Wind Symphony Announces a Winter Concert Featuring a World Premiere, the 2025 NWS Memorial Scholarship Winner, and the NWS Middle School All-Star Trombones!
🎵
The Nebraska Wind Symphony invites the community to an unforgettable evening of music, celebration, and tribute.
Event Details
📅 Date: Sunday, March 1, 2026
🕢 Time: 7:30 PM
📍 Location: Strauss Performing Arts Center, Omaha, NE
🎵
Please come early to enjoy a special pre-concert performance by the NWS trombone section in the lobby of the Strauss Performing Arts Center at 7:00pm!
🎵
This year’s Winter Concert will showcase a dynamic program under the batons of Music Director Josh Kearney, Associate Music Director Keith Davis, and Former NWS Music Director and composer Larry MacTaggart.
Concert Highlights
World Premiere: Clarior e Tenebris (Brighter from Darkness) by Larry MacTaggart. This moving work honors the memory of beloved former band member Alan Lightbody and celebrates his lasting impact on the community.
Scholarship Winner Performance: 2025 Memorial Scholarship recipient Benjamin Prentice, a University of Nebraska at Kearney student, will perform Lars-Erik Larsson’s Concertino for Trombone and Band.
Middle School All-Star Trombones: Talented students from Omaha-area schools will join the stage for Meredith Willson’s iconic Seventy-Six Trombones and Nathan Farrell’s lively All Aboard, conducted by Keith Davis.
The program also features timeless favorites, including Sousa’s spirited march The Black Horse Troop, Jay W. Gilbert’s charming Suite Divertimento, and Tchaikovsky’s exhilarating Dance of the Jesters from The Snow Maiden.
This free concert blends tradition and innovation—honoring the Nebraska Wind Symphony’s rich history while showcasing new talent and original compositions.

02/12/2025

For 49 years the Nebraska Wind Symphony has performed hundreds of concerts with over a thousand different playing members. We celebrate the financial support of the Omaha community that enables us to serve our playing members and concert attendees. Your support has helped us accomplish: purchasing our own percussion equipment, covering increasing costs of rehearsal and concert venues, and providing modest compensation for our three part-time staff members. We couldn't do it without you and our dedicated playing members who not only contribute financially but provide countless volunteer hours.

As we approach our 50th Anniversary next season, we are commissioning three new works for concert band by nationally prominent composers. We have intentionally requested that these pieces be usable by school band programs like those that sparked the passion for music by our many playing members. Our plans include bringing the composers to Omaha to not only work with our players, but also with young musicians who we intend to perform this music. Your financial support can help us fully realize a fantastic upcoming anniversary season.

Giving Tuesday is today, December 2.
NWS appreciates your support in helping us reach our overall 2025 goal of $6,000. Donate now! The link to donate is in the comments

02/12/2025

We hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend! Speaking of giving thanks, we are grateful for you, our community! Thank you to everyone who supports us, whether it's by coming to our concerts, sharing our posts, or donating.
Giving Tuesday is a wonderful opportunity to show your support and gratitude for all the amazing non-profits that make your local community and the world a better place! Giving Tuesday donations are open now through December 2nd. Thank you to everyone who has donated already. Your donation helps support local concerts and special projects like our annual scholarship. There's still time to give! You can find the link to donate in the comments.

22/11/2025

The Nebraska Wind Symphony is thrilled to present their second concert of the season in conjunction with the University of Nebraska at Omaha University Band on Sunday December 7th at 3:00pm at the Strauss Performing Arts Center. Admission is pay as you can.

The University Band will be led by the University Band conductor, Peter Wilger and graduate conductor, Lance Mattice. The Nebraska Wind Symphony will be conducted by Music Director Dr. Joshua Kearney and Associate Music Director Keith Michael Davis. Both groups will be joined by guest conductor and Stephen F. Austin State University Assistant Director of Bands, Dr. Christopher Kaatz.

The audience is invited on a captivating musical journey through the season, blending cherished classics with fresh works. The UNO University Band will open the concert with a program that moves from the vibrant and powerful Illumination by David Maslanka, to the whimsical Daydream by Timothy Mahr. Next, the entertaining and energetic Caribana Afterparty by Omar Thomas followed by the charming folksong and dance melodies of Hugh Stuart’s Three Ayres from Gloucester. University Band’s portion of the concert concludes with the playful, wintery thrill of Leroy Anderson's beloved Sleigh Ride.

For the second half of the program the Nebraska Wind Symphony will take the stage with a lovely variety of holiday-themed music. The set will journey from the spectacular Christmas medley of Claude T. Smith's A Rhapsody on Christmas Carols to the charming Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by Leon Jessell. A moment of serene reflection will be provided by Morton Lauridsen's transcendent O Magnum Mysterium followed by the whimsical and spirited First Snow by Anthony O’Toole - inspired by the painting Skating in Central Park by American artist Agnes Tait. Next is the colossal and dramatic power of Alfred Reed's Russian Christmas Music. The concert concludes with a rousing finale of John Philip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever— join us to discover why this iconic march is, in fact, a Christmas song!

19/11/2025

Giving Tuesday is a global effort to inspire generosity throughout the world. The local effort is sponsored by SHARE Omaha.
Join the Greater Omaha area community in supporting many deserving nonprofits, including the Nebraska Wind Symphony! This year NWS would like to raise $3,000 during the early giving period as we work towards reaching our overall goal of $6,000.

Your donation this year helps continue to provide concerts with no admission charged, allowing more people to experience live music. Your donation also helps us purchase new music, replace and repair large equipment, pay our dedicated part-time staff, cover rehearsal and performance venue fees, and support special programs such as our Middle School All-Stars.

02/10/2025

We welcome you to the thrilling start of our 49th season with our concert entitled, “Through the Looking Glass”

Sunday, October 19th | 7:30 PM
Strauss Performing Arts Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Dr. Joshua Kearney, Music Director, NWS
Keith Davis, Associate Music Director, NWS

🎟️ Free admission, donations appreciated!

🎵 The Nebraska Wind Symphony welcomes you to embark on a wonderful season of music and community lead by music director Josh Kearney and associate musical director Keith Davis. Throughout the season NWS will be joined by guests conductors and musicians from our local community and beyond. NWS’s first program of this season is an exhilarating and imaginative voyage filled with classics and lesser known gems. NWS invites audiences to come aboard and journey through the looking glass… ✨

The program opens with Malcom Arnold’s “Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo.” The suite is a charming tour through folk-like soundscapes, featuring lush melodies, with the final energetic rondo propelling listeners into the next selection: “All the Pretty Horses” by Anne McGinty. McGinty arranges a folk lullaby into a delicate and sensitive rendition, evoking a lyrical, dreamlike atmosphere. Next, comes a striking change as the journey continues, with the rousing march, “The Thunderer” by the march king, John Philip Sousa. Ira Hearshen’s “After ‘The Thunderer,'" follows the march, painting a resplendent emergence from the storm. The mood and musical color transform with a movement entitled “Spiritual” from Robert Russell Bennet’s iconic “Symphonic Songs for Band.” Lively characters then join the mix with Franz Von Suppe’s tuneful “Poet and Peasant Overture,” a selection of music from a larger operetta arranged for the band. The piece evokes the adventure, playfulness, love, and humor found in the original work. Finally the voyage ends safely ashore with the lovely, Caribbean influenced, “Beguine for Band” by Glen Osser, a rare gem audiences are sure to enjoy.

Address

12200 Burke Blvd

68154

Website

http://www.nebraskawindsymphony.com/

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