Omaha Symphonic Winds

The Omaha Symphonic Winds is a select group of talented adult musicians from the Omaha metropolitan area who perform concerts of outstanding original band compositions and orchestral transcriptions. The ensemble was founded in August 2009, holds 501(c) 3 non-profit status, and is registered as a public benefit corporation in the State of Nebraska. The mission of Omaha Symphonic Winds is to enrich the community with the heritage of great band compositions and to promote the future of band literature. We will accomplish this by providing an opportunity for the community to hear outstanding musical compositions in a live setting, furnish an outlet for talented adult musicians to perform quality music, motivate music students through joint concert performances, commission and premiere new works, and serve the community with outreach events. The Omaha Symphonic Winds was founded by Dr. William Hall, former trombonist in The United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own) Washington DC, The United States Army Field Band, and former Director of Bands at Dana College. Other previous conductors have included Mr. Ron Hardin and Mr. Byron Braasch. The current Conductor is Rex Barker, retired Director of Instrumental Music at Midland University and an educator with more than 40 years of experience with music education. The 63 member-musicians of OSW rehearse at Millard South High School and are drawn from area band directors, music teachers, retired military musicians, area professionals and retired people.

Rex Barker, Conductor

Rex Barker began his career as the band director at Northwest High School in Grand Island, after which he moved to Omaha and became the band director at Millard South High School for the next 27 years. During his tenure as the Instrumental Music Department Head for the Millard Public Schools the district was named to the Top 100 Places for Music Education four times. After retiring from Millard South in May 2015, Rex became the Director of Instrumental Music for Midland University in Fremont and a Sales Representative for Fruhauf Uniforms. He was named Director of Performing Arts for Midland University in 2016. He is a Past-President of the Nebraska Music Educators Association and the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association. His honors include the Gary Thomas Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, the UNO Bands Hall of Fame, the Excellence in Secondary Education Award from the Millard Public Schools, the NFHS Outstanding Music Educator Award for Nebraska in 2014, and the 2016 Donald A. Lentz Outstanding Bandmaster Award from NSBA. He was inducted into the Nebraska Music Educators Hall of Fame in 2022. Rex and his wife Mary have been married for 40 years. They have two children and 5 grandchildren