NWS Season 48 – 2024-2025

The UNO University Band and the Nebraska Wind Symphony presented a shared concert on Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 3PM at UNO’s Strauss Performing Arts Center.

The program began with the UNO University Band, a non-auditioned ensemble open to all UNO students, faculty, and staff under the direction of Prof. Peter Wilger. 

The Nebraska Wind Symphony, directed by Dr. Joshua Kearney and Associate Director Keith Davis was featured in the second half of the program. NWS performed these selections: Merry Music for Wind Band by Hidas Frigyes with guest director Janis Purins, Ubi Caritas by Paul Mealor, A Christmas Festival by Leroy Anderson, and The Snowman by Howard Blake with Alexandria Plumb, soprano soloist and narrator.

The program is loosely inspired by the 2024 Olympics and the longstanding relationship between the U.S. and France. This concert features folk and popular music from both countries. The concert begins with the inspirational and unifying anthem of the 1984 Olympic Fanfare composed by legendary American composer John Williams. Sarah Aymond, director of music at Iowa Western Community College, conducts Jan Van Der Roost’s Suite Provençale, a suite of French folksongs. We also present American favorites; John Philip Sousa’s Washington Post March, and Omar Thomas’ soulful and contemporary rendition of the classic Shenandoah. We’ll also highlight Leonard Bernstein’s playful and optimistic music from the 1954 comic operetta Candide, based on the French writer Voltaire’s satire of the same name. We’ve also included the exhilarating American In Paris by George Gershwin…listen for the taxi horns!