Music Department | Nebraska Wesleyan University

The legendary NWU arch juxtaposed by green trees and blue sky.

Music Department

Bold Designs Campaign

Bold Designs Campaign Lights Up O'Donnell Auditorium

Published

April 6, 2018

Liana Sandin (’81) fondly remembers the many hours she spent on the O’Donnell Auditorium stage.

“I was in a lot of things,” Sandin recalled of her involvement in choirs, operas and even serving as an usher at other events hosted in the auditorium. “O’Donnell means performance to me.”

Music Department

Music Professor Named Exemplary Teacher

Amy Spears, assistant professor of music, portrait

Published

March 8, 2018

Amy Spears staged a mock school board hearing for her secondary music students to help them better understand issues they could face as music educators regarding music program funding.

Music Department

Touch of Class Jazz Choir Takes Spring Tour to Iowa

Published

February 26, 2018

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Touch of Class Jazz Choir will perform four concerts during its spring tour to Iowa.

Music Department

University Choir Plans Four-State Winter Tour

The University Choir's annual winter tour will take them to four states for nine performances.

Published

December 19, 2017

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s award-winning University Choir has announced a tour schedule that will take them to four states in January.

The choir begins its tour in York, Neb. on January 3 and will travel and perform for 9 days, concluding with a home concert in O’Donnell Auditorium on the Nebraska Wesleyan campus. They will also perform in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

Music Department

Alumni and Friends

Music Alumni Recognized During Homecoming Festivities

The Department of Music recognized three alumni

Published

September 29, 2017

Emily Bruflat (’10) has received the Outstanding Young Music Alum and Liana K. Sandin (’81) and Ray Young (’49) have received Outstanding Music Alum awards. The alumni were honored during homecoming activities September 27-October 1.

Music Department

Gender Studies Department

Sociology and Anthropology Department

Class Gives Students Historic Opportunity to Experience Cuba

NWU professors John Spilker and Sue Wortmann

Students visit the iconic Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba.

John Spilker, a music and gender studies professor

Senior Sarah Dyer enjoyed the connections made

Published

August 8, 2017

For the music and gender studies major, the course would provide an exciting opportunity to learn more about contemporary Cuba.

Music Department

Gender Studies Department

Music and Gender Studies Professor Receives Prouty Teaching Award

Music and gender studies professor John Spilker

John Spilker, assistant professor of music and gender studies

Published

May 10, 2017

At the start of each semester, music and gender studies professor John Spilker invites his students to review and sign a contract titled, “Ground Rules for Class Discussion.”

Music Department

Biology Department

Modern Languages Department

Biology Major Finds Her Way to Opera Stage

Published

April 3, 2017

“I gave it a shot my first semester here and I fell in love with it. I’ve been doing it ever since,” sophomore Hanna Arrowsmith said of her passion for opera.

Music Department

NWU to Perform Operas “Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night” and “Gallantry”

Published

March 24, 2017

Stories of a jilted bride’s wedding night and a soap opera parody will be told on the O’Donnell Auditorium stage when Nebraska Wesleyan performs two operas, “Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night” and “Gallantry.”

Political Science Department

Music Department

Professors, Student Recognized for Diversity Advocacy

Professors Kelly Clancy and John Spilker

Flor de Maria Garcia-Garza, a junior business and psychology major

Published

January 26, 2017

Kelly Clancy, assistant professor of political science, John Spilker, assistant professor of music and gender studies, and Flor de Maria Garcia-Garza, a junior business and psychology major, were each recognized for their work in raising awareness for issues of diversity and inclusion on campus.

Music Department

University Choir Plans Five-State Winter Tour

Published

December 7, 2016

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s award-winning University Choir has announced a tour schedule that will take them to five states in January.

Music Department

Alumni and Friends

Trumpeter Extraordinaire Bijon Watson to Perform at NWU

Trumpeter Bijon Watson with perform at NWU on September 25.

Kevin Boesinger is the 2016 "Outstanding Music Alum" Award winner.

Kaitlin Westbrook is the 2016 Outstanding Young Music Alum Award winner.

Published

September 19, 2016

Bijon Watson, the lead trumpet for the Grammy-nominated Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, will perform at Nebraska Wesleyan University on Sunday, September 25.

Admitted students

Academics

Music Department

An Incredible Gift: NWU Receives Norman Luboff Singers Collection

Published

March 4, 2016

“Four hundred years of music all encapsulated in compositions and arrangements.” That’s how William Wyman, Professor of Music, describes the Norman Luboff Singers Collection, a choral library of 300 choral pieces.

Music Department

Touch of Class Jazz Choir to Perform Spring Tour in Iowa

Published

February 26, 2016

Nebraska Wesleyan University's Touch of Class Jazz Choir will make three performance stops during its spring tour to Iowa.

Music Department

University Choir Plans Three-State Winter Tour

Published

December 17, 2015

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s award-winning University Choir has announced a tour schedule that will take the ensemble to Colorado, New Mexico and across Nebraska in January.

Music Department

Students Take Musical Talents to Premier Greek Festival

rehearsing with choir director Bill Wyman

Published

July 10, 2015

Four Nebraska Wesleyan University vocalists and their director will spend much of July in Greece to be part of a renouned cultural festival.

Music Department

NWU Music to Perform Comedic Operas

Published

March 31, 2015

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Music Department will present a pair of comedic operas, “La Canterina” and “Mavra.”

Art Department

University Ministries

Music Department

Students Use Spring Break to Expand Worldviews

NWU students are in Puerto Rico this week

Published

March 23, 2015

Ten students and Nebraska Wesleyan’s university minister are in Puerto Rico this week where they are tutoring in immigrant communities.

Music Department

NWU to Host United States Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus Performance

The U.S. Army Field Band & Soldiers' Chorus

Published

February 20, 2015

The internationally acclaimed United States Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus will perform a free concert at Nebraska Wesleyan University on Tuesday, March 10.

Music Department

Celebrate the Holidays With Elizabethan Feast Tradition

Published

November 18, 2014

Nebraska Wesleyan will celebrate a 22-year-old holiday tradition when it hosts its annual Elizabethan Christmas feast.

Music Professor Named Exemplary Teacher

Published

October 22, 2014

Energetic. Inventive. Committed. That’s how colleagues and students describe music professor John Spilker.

“Students will come, and they will stay when they have taken inventive, demanding and engaging classes like those taught by John Spilker,” wrote Sandra McBride, assistant professor of English.

Undergraduate Admissions

Music Department

40 Years: Doc Wyman's Career Marked by Many Milestones

Published

October 3, 2014

Doc Wyman has taught over 1,000 students to make the most of their voices. Some of those students were biology, physics, psychology and business students looking for the opportunity to further enjoy a musical hobby.

Music Department

University Choir Returns to Carnegie Hall to Perform Holocaust Piece

Published

May 20, 2014

For the second time in three years, the choir will perform at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Music Department

High Score: Music composers plan an elevating role in gamers’ experiences

Published

April 22, 2014

Mention video game music to people above 35 and they’re likely to think first of simple bloops and beeps, or the catchy tunes behind a bouncing Mario.

Music Department

Jazz Choir to Perform in Blair, Fremont, Columbus

Published

March 3, 2014

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Touch of Class Jazz Choir will make three performance stops on its spring tour.

The ensemble will perform concerts in Blair on March 14, Fremont on March 15 and Columbus on March 16.