Company Profile
Omaha Symphony Association
Company Overview
Celebrating its centennial in 2021, the Omaha Symphony employs Nebraska’s largest complement of professional performing artists and is widely regarded as the finest musical ensemble in the region. The orchestra offers MasterWorks, Symphony Pops, Symphony Rocks, Movies, and Family Concerts from Omaha’s Holland Performing Arts Center, an architectural and acoustic marvel in the heart of downtown. A chamber orchestra series is also presented at the Joslyn Art Museum. In addition to performing concerts of the highest caliber, Music Director Thomas Wilkins, Principal Pops Conductor and Resident Conductor Ernest Richardson, and the versatile musicians of the Omaha Symphony engage the community through nationally recognized education programs, community partnerships, tours, and other special events. The Omaha Symphony Association operates with an annual budget of approximately $8.2 million. The endowment exceeds $25 million. The musicians are in the fourth year of a five-year master agreement. Music Director Thomas Wilkins is contracted through the 2020/21 season.
Company History
The Omaha Symphony has long been an essential resource for live orchestral performances, musical entertainment and education, and community enrichment.
A non-profit professional orchestra, the Omaha Symphony's virtuosity and versatility are showcased in six distinct series: MasterWorks, Symphony Pops, Symphony Rocks, Family, Symphony Joslyn, and the Movies series. In addition to main-stage concerts, the orchestra performs a wide array of nationally-recognized education and community engagement programs, tours and run-outs, one-night-only special concerts, and media broadcasts. Each year, the orchestra reaches many thousands of people, of all ages, throughout Nebraska and western Iowa.
There were several civic orchestras in Omaha prior to the 1920s, but from its establishment in March 1921 under the leadership of Henry Cox, the Omaha Symphony had aspirations for higher levels of musical artistry and talent. Over the ensuing decades, strong community support, as well as a series of distinguished music directors, helped the orchestra expand its concert programming, increase its educational activities, and enhance its artistic excellence.
In 1975, the Omaha Symphony developed into a true professional orchestra with a "core" of 30 full-time salaried musicians augmented by a group of auxiliary players. Over time, the orchestra has gradually grown to its current complement: 42 full-time musicians now form the core of the orchestra, and 28 part-time musicians have annual contracts. Additional players are hired as extras, as repertoire requires. All of the orchestra's musicians are highly-trained paid professionals, most with advanced degrees from top music schools and universities
Leading from the podium are Maestros Thomas Wilkins and Ernest Richardson. Wilkins was appointed the Omaha Symphony’s music director in 2005. Under his leadership, the orchestra has expanded its concert offerings, renewed its commitment to education and community programs, and embarked on ambitious workshops with young composers and journeyman conductors. Richardson joined the symphony as assistant conductor in 1993, later rising to the role of resident conductor, and now to resident conductor/principal pops conductor.
In 2005, the orchestra moved into its new home, the Holland Performing Arts Center. With the Holland Center, the Omaha Symphony now has a world class venue esteemed for “its rich sound, excellent sight lines, and striking interior… a new icon for the city” according to Architectural Record.
With a strong, ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of its community and its concertgoers, the Omaha Symphony looks forward to bringing the power and beauty of live orchestral music to audiences for generations to come.