University of Nebraska Kearney

Student Ensembles

Jazz/Rock Ensemble
Kearney Symphony Orchestra
Nebraskats
Thornton String Quartet
UNK Bands
UNK Choruses 

Jazz/Rock Ensemble----Details. 

The UNK Jazz/Rock Ensemble, one of the top performing and touring groups on campus, serves as a laboratory for music students to hone their jazz performance skills, and as a small ensemble for university students who want to play big band jazz. The instrumentation consists of five saxophones, four trombones, five trumpets, two keyboard players who double on synthesizers, electric bass, electric guitar and two percussionists. All university students are eligible to audition. The ensemble rehearses on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:15, and each section rehearses individually once each week. During the Fall semester, the band prepares a December concert, and during the Spring semester, an April concert. Occasionally, the Ensemble participates in national festivals such as the University of Northern Colorado's Greeley Jazz Festival. Concert Calendar. For more information, contact Jim Payne (email: paynej@unk.edu)

Kearney Symphony Orchestra 

For over a century, music lovers from all parts of Nebraska have gathered in Kearney to join in the camaraderie of playing and listening to the great symphony orchestra literature, as well as popular favorites. Central Nebraska's premier symphonic ensemble, today's Kearney Symphony Orchestra is composed of enthusiastic music lovers from North Platte to Grand Island, and from Alma to Dunning. The body also serves as the student orchestra of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The orchestra rehearses on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:30, and usually presents four concerts each season (October, December, March, and April). On occasion, Community chamber-music concerts are presented in conjunction with the regular season concerts. For more information, contact Deborah Freedman (email: freedmand2@unk.edu)

Nebraskats 

The Nebraskats is a 14-voice show choir from the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The singers are accompanied by a small band. All of the members of Kats are full-time students at U.N.K., and represent many areas of study as well as most areas in the state. The Nebraskats are selected by competitive auditions each spring, from the 50 to 75 students who audition each year. The music performed by the Nebraskats includes Broadway show tunes, medleys of songs by various composers, and popular music from the 30s to the twenty-first century. Highlights of past years have included performance tours of Japan, China, Germany, England, Austria, Australia, the Czech Republic, and Washington, D.C. Concert Calendar. For more information contact Andrew White (email: whitear1@unk.edu)

Thornton String Quartet 

Formed during the fall semester of 2004, the Thornton String Quartet is the University of Nebraska-Kearney's principal scholarship chamber ensemble. Literature includes the standard string quartet literature of the eighteenth century to the present. Members of the Thornton String Quartet rehearse twice a week and perform in the Kearney Symphony Orchestra, which rehearses one evening per week. Each semester the quartet performs in recital, and in other community/university service settings. In addition, the quartet is available for other performance events allowing for added income for each quartet member. For more information contact Ting-Lan Chen (email: chent1@unk.edu)

UNK Bands 

The Symphonic Band / "Pride of the Plains" Marching Band is the largest of the U.N.K. instrumental ensembles. The ensemble begins the academic year in August as the "Pride of the Plains" Marching Band and does not begin practicing concert repertoire until the completion of the football season. Commonly, the Marching Band presents several different halftime shows in addition to a pre-game show at each home contest. The Symphonic Band is a 90-piece ensemble, consisting both of music and non-music majors. The Band routinely appears on the annual N.M.E.A. Conference/Clinic program. The Wind Ensemble is a select instrumental ensemble open to woodwind, brass, and percussion musicians from the entire university community through competitive audition. The ensemble rehearses and performs during the spring semester only, and often shares concerts with the Symphonic Band. Concert Calendar. For more information contact Duane Bierman (email: biermanda@unk.edu)

UNK Choruses 

Choraleers is a select mixed-voice chorus devoted to performing chamber choral repertoire. In past seasons, they have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, with the Omaha Symphony, and throughout the State of Nebraska. It is open to all university students through competitive audition. The ensemble rehearses and performs both fall and spring semester. Collegium is a select small vocal ensemble devoted to performing acapella literature from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries. The ensemble is open to members of Choraleers through competitive audition. The University Women's Chorus and University Men's Chorus are devoted to performing repertoire written for the respective ensembles, including classics to popular, Broadway to spirituals. Each ensemble rehearses and performs both fall and spring semester, and is open to the entire university community. Concert Calendar. For more information, contact David Bauer (email: bauerd@unk.edu)