Wind Symphony to perform at Nebraska Music Educators Conference in November

The Northwest Wind Symphony will perform at the Nebraska Music Education Association’s Conference and In-Service Clinic in November. (Photo by Lilly Cook/Northwest Missouri State University)

The Northwest Missouri State University Wind Symphony has accepted an invitation to perform this fall at the annual Nebraska Music Education Association’s (NMEA) Conference and In-Service Clinic. 

The Wind Symphony will perform a 45-minute concert at 10:45 a.m. Friday, Nov. 21, in Kimball Recital Hall in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hundreds of music professionals, educators and students attend the two-day conference.

The invitation to NMEA is unique in that the Wind Symphony is one of the few auditioned collegiate ensembles in the state that is comprised only of undergraduate students, while also welcoming students of all academic majors.

Selection for the performance was based on the evaluation of a blind panel. Dr. Kathryn Strickland, a Northwest professor of music and director of the Wind Symphony, said the invitation is an indicator of student success.

“Our invitation directly reflects the work our students have put in,” Strickland said. “It shows that we’re going strong and moving forward. Most of our students also take applied lessons with a music faculty member, which helps them to evolve into highly skilled players so they can play alongside everyone, and we can move up together.”

The Northwest Wind Symphony is the University’s premier wind ensemble and performs the best selections from all styles and periods, in addition to recent repertoire for wind bands. It also will present a concert on the Northwest campus at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, in the Mary Linn Auditorium at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

The Wind Symphony’s other recent accolades include being selected by the College Band Directors National Association as one of 10 exemplary collegiate Small Band Programs in 2017. Additionally, in 2018, the Wind Symphony gave its premiere performance at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, and returned to perform at the venue again in 2024.