Winter All-Star Concert
March 1, 2026 – 7:30PM – 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.
View the concert flyer
View the concert program
Special pre-concert performance in the lobby.
Come early to hear the NWS trombone section performing at 7:00pm in the lobby! Selections to be performed are by Haydn, Culver, Biebl, and Berlin.
Holiday Concert – December 7, 2025 – 3:00PM – UNO Strauss
The Nebraska Wind Symphony and the UNO University Band present a shared concert on Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 3PM at UNO’s Strauss Performing Arts Center. We invite you to bring the whole family to get into the spirit of the season with some cherished classics and fresh new works for concert band.
There is no admission charged for this concert. Your free will donation is appreciated by both UNO Bands and the Nebraska Wind Symphony.
The program begins with the UNO University Band, a non-auditioned ensemble open to all UNO students, faculty, and staff under the direction of Professor Peter Wilger and Lance Matice. Their selections include: Illumination by David Maslanka, Daydream by Timothy Mahr, Caribana Afterparty by Omar Thomas, Three Ayres from Gloucester, and Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride.
The Nebraska Wind Symphony, directed by Music Director Dr. Joshua Kearney and Associate Director Keith Michael Davis perform the second half of the program. Music by NWS in includes The First Snow by Anthony O’Toole, A Rhapsody on Christmas Carols by Claude Smith, O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by Leon Jessel, and Russian Christmas Music by Alfred Reed. The concert concludes with a march with a surprising Christmas connection.
Winter Concert – March 1, 2026
7:30PM – 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. This year we showcase Middle School All-Star Trombones! The students are chosen by their directors to participate. NWS provides a rich and exciting musical experience for them with challenging music and a chance to work with a local clinician!
Come enjoy more wonderful music featuring these trombonists and our talented NWS playing members at this free concert.
Spring Concert – April 26, 2026
3:00PM – Burke High School
The Nebraska Wind Symphony proudly presents a shared concert with the Beveridge Middle School band on April 26, 2026 at 3PM at Burke High School (12200 Burke Blvd, Omaha, NE 68154). The concert begins with selections by the Beveridge Middle School Band under the direction of Andrew Braun. The Nebraska Wind Symphony’s portion of the concert includes a variety of music conducted by Joshua Kearney, Music Director and Keith Michael Davis, Associate Director.
Fall Concert – October 19, 2025
7:30PM – UNO Strauss
Our Fall Concert started our 49th season at 7:30PM on Sunday, October 19th at UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center (6001 Dodge St, Omaha, NE).
This concert was an exhilarating and imaginative voyage filled with classics and lesser known gems. We invited our audience to come aboard and journey through the looking glass. Our tour directors for this concert were Music Director, Josh Kearney and Associate Director, Keith Michael Davis.
There was no admission charged to this concert. Donations are gladly appreciated.
Check out the flyer for this concert.
See the program for this concert.
The program opens with Malcom Arnold’s charming Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo. Listeners will then enjoy All the Pretty Horses by Anne McGinty, a delicate and sensitive rendition of the folk lullaby. Next is the rousing march, The Thunderer by John Philip Sousa. Ira Hearshen’s After ‘The Thunderer’ uses themes from the march to depict a resplendent emergence from the storm. The mood and musical color shift with Spiritual from Robert Russell Bennet’s iconic “Symphonic Songs for Band.” The lively Poet and Peasant Overture by Franz Von Suppe follows. Our musical voyage ends safely ashore with the Caribbean influenced, “Beguine for Band” by Glen Osser.
There is no admission charged for any of this season’s NWS concerts.
Your generous donation helps us keep providing free concerts.
Check out the Support Us page for more ways you can provide financial support for your community band.
2025-2026 Concert Season
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 – time TBD
July 3, 2026 – Capital District – time TBD