Nebraska Wind Symphony – Omaha's Community Concert Band

Spring Concert
April 26, 2026 – 3PM – Burke High School

The Nebraska Wind Symphony is joined by the Omaha Beveridge Middle School Band for a band concert on Sunday, April 26, 2025 at 3PM at Omaha Burke High School (12200 Burke St). The Nebraska Wind Symphony is directed by Music Director Dr. Joshua Kearney and Associate Director Keith Michael Davis The Beveridge band is directed by Andrew Braun and Nicholas Spath.

Together we invite music lovers of all ages to join in celebrating music that expresses beauty, love, joy, sorrow, loss, and pride. The concert spans American patriotic works, beloved marches, and contemporary compositions.

The Beveridge Middle School band kicks off the concert with Triumphant Overture an energetic work by Elliot Del Borgo. Next is the whimsical Flight of Dragons by Russell Holland depicting the feeling of a dragon’s flight. They close their portion of the concert with a bold Spanish march, Amparito Roca by Jaime Texidor.

The Nebraska Wind Symphony opens the second half of the concert with the gorgeous singing lines of Carmen Dargon‘s arrangement of Samuel Ward’s America the Beautiful. Next is Early Light by Carolyn Bremer, inspired by hearing the Star-Spangled Banner anthems preceding baseball games. A fitting segue is The National Game by John Philip Sousa. This march was commissioned for the National Baseball League’s fiftieth anniversary in 1925. The program shifts to a more somber mood with Letters for Home by Peter Meechan, a deeply personal piece inspired by letters sent home from the front lines of World War I. Nothing Gold Can Stay by Steven Bryant reflecting on beauty and impermanence through the lens of Robert Frost’s same-named poem. American Hymnsong Suite by Dwayne Milburn celebrates four beloved American hymn tunes across four unique settings. The Beveridge Middle School Band joins in to close the concert with a combined performance of Caribana Afterparty by Omar Thomas. This piece is a jubilant celebration rooted in Caribbean carnival tradition highlighting a calypso groove and the energetic rhythms of soca music.
View the Poster for this concert.

All NWS concerts are free and open to the public.
Your generous donation along with those of businesses, playing members, and our friends throughout the Omaha area make this possible.
Thank you for supporting NWS and helping us continue to provide free concerts!

Celebrating 50 Years of Music

We are busy planning our 2026-2027 season. It will be a special one as we celebrate a half century of enriching our community through the power of wind band music.
For 50 years, our mission has remained the same, to bring people together through great music.

Find out more on our 50th Anniversary Page.
Contribute your own story about NWS and read those of others.

2026-2027 – 50th Anniversary Celebration Season

Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 7:30PM – UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center
– Premier of Civil War themed composition by Larry MacTaggart
Sunday, December 6 at 3:00PM – UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center
– Concert with UNO University Band
– Premier of flute concerto by Erika Svanoe
Saturday, February 27, 2027 – UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center
– featuring the NWS Middle School All Star Honor Band
– Premier of new composition for Middle School Band by William Owen’s
Sunday, April 25, 2027 at 7:30PM – UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center
– Premier of new composition for advanced concert band by Keith Michael Davis
Summer Concerts
Sunday, June 6 2027 – St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church – time TBD
Saturday, July 3, 2027 – location and time TBD

Don’t miss any of our exciting concerts! Become a fan and receive information and reminders about each of our upcoming events.

Do Good Days – April 22-25, 2026

Your donation this year helps us replace some aging percussion and other specialty equipment. Additionally these donations will help us to provide concerts with no admission charged, allowing more people to experience live music. Thanks to the generous financial support of our community and playing members, we continue to thrive as a performing arts organization.
Thank you for your generous support of the Nebraska Wind Symphony, Omaha’s Community Concert Band!
Visit our SHARE Omaha page

Our thanks to SHARE Omaha for sponsor ing this volunteering and giving event.
SHARE Omaha’s Mission is to help nonprofits achieve their missions by inspiring support and serving. Their goal is to change the giving culture of the metro area.

NWS Scholarship Program

The 2026 NWS Memorial Scholarship Competition application period is from January 1, 2026 thru April 30, 2026. See our scholarship page for more information about the competition and how to apply.

Congratulations to these students who have been awarded scholarships of $1,500 and $1,000 in 2025:
Benjamin Prentice – Senior Trombone student at University of NE at Kearney
Kade Duering – incoming freshman F Horn student at University of NE at Omaha

Your financial support helps us continue to provide financial resources to young people who participate in post college/university music programs. To support our scholarships, make a gift to NWS in honor of or in memory of a loved one or special friend. On our giving platform, select NWS Scholarship Fund and indicate who you would like to honor or remember with this donation. Or just make a donation to this fund because you like to help the development of young musicians.

Winter All-Star Concert
March 1, 2026 – 7:30M – UNO Strauss

You won’t want to miss our Winter concert Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 7:30PM at UNO’s Strauss Performing Arts Center. NWS performs under the direction of Music Director Josh Kearney and Associate Music Director Keith Davis. We welcome former NWS Music Director and composer Larry MacTaggart to direct his new work for concert band.
This year we showcase over 20 Trombone students chosen by their directors to participate as this year’s Middle School All-Stars . NWS provides a rich and exciting musical experience for them with challenging music and a chance to work with local clinician, Jay Wise! These students perform with NWS Meredith Willson’s iconic Seventy-Six Trombones and Nathan Farrell’s lively All Aboard.
We also feature 2025 Memorial Scholarship recipient Benjamin Prentice, a University of Nebraska at Kearney student, performing Lars-Erik Larsson’s Concertino for Trombone and Band.
NWS premiers Clarior e Tenebris (Brighter from Darkness) by Larry MacTaggart. This moving work was composed to honor the memory of Alan Lightbody, an NWS and PAC Band trombonist, who passed away from cancer in late 2025.
The program also includes Sousa’s The Black Horse Troop march, Suite Divertimento by Jay Gilbert, and Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Jesters from The Snow Maiden.
The NWS trombone section performed at 7:00pm in the lobby. Selections to be performed are by Haydn, Culver, Biebl, and Berlin.
All of the NWS concerts this season are free to the public. Donations are appreciated.
View the concert flyer
View the concert program

2025-2026 Concert Season

We welcome you to embark on a wonderful season of music for the community as we present our 49th concert season under the direction of music director Josh Kearney and associate director Keith Davis. Throughout the season NWS will be joined by guests conductors and musicians from our local community and beyond.

October 19, 2025 – UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center – 7:30 PM
December 7, 2025 – UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center – 3:00 PM – with the UNO University Band
March 1, 2026 – UNO – 7:30 PM – with the Middle School All-Stars
April 26, 2026 – Burke High School – 3:00 PM – with Beveridge Middle School
Summer Concerts with NWS Swingtones
June 7, 2026 – St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church – 6PM
July 3, 2026 – The Capital District – 7PM

Thank You! for Supporting NWS!

NWS relies on financial support from its playing members, concert patrons, and businesses and individuals from around the Omaha metropolitan area. These gifts help us to pay for rehearsal and concert venues, music director and other part-time staff salaries, new music purchase and rental, performance rights, insurance, replacement equipment, and so many other things.
Find out more about these ways to provide your financial support to NWS:
Direct Donation – Sponsor a Concert – Purchase a Program Advertisement – ShareOmaha Giving Events – Participate in a Giving Program and fund us through your normal purchases