Skip to main content

Jazz Festival

UNO's 50th Annual Great Plains Jazz Festival Sponsored by Omaha Performing Arts and Nebraska Diamond with the support of the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment

Founded in 1973, the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Great Plains Jazz Festival is one of the premier educational jazz festivals in the nation.

Participating directors please click here for detailed information about the festival.

The 2022 UNO/OPA Jazz Festival will take place at UNO on Friday, February 25 and at the Holland Center in downtown Omaha on Saturday, February 26.

Friday will include a daytime performance by the UNO Faculty Jazz Combo and clinics presented by Eric Marienthal, Gordon Goodwin, and Willie Murillo.

The Friday evening headliner performance will feature the Metropolitan Area Youth Jazz Orchestra (MAYJO) and UNO's Jazz I with Frank Greene, Eric Marienthal, and Gordon Goodwin.

Saturday will feature a clinic presented by Arturo O'Farrill and an evening performance by the Grammy-winning Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

The festival is full and registrations are no longer being accepted.

To be placed on the waiting list please fill out this google form.

Contact petermadsen@unomaha.edu for more information.

Sponsored By:

nebraskadiamondlogo.jpg 1---omaha-performing-arts-logotype-black-100119-002c9cd1514ff23615095ddff00009b1489.png
nac-nce-logos---together-cymk-300-dpi-3-1.jpg

70735947_10219641265536025_2495609159865597952_o.jpeg

Eric Marienthal

gordon_studio.jpeg

Gordon Goodwin

arturo_ofarrill_oslo_jazzfestival_2018_221903.jpeg

Arturo O'Farrill

dsc_4296bw.jpeg

Willie Murillo

2022 Festival Adjudicators

Brad Goode, Trumpet - University of Colorado
Sherrie Maricle, Drums - Leader of DIVA Jazz Orchestra
Damani Phillips, Saxophone - University of Iowa
Sam Hankins, Trumpet - Educator and United States Air Force Band Veteran

The Great Plains Jazz Festival features nationally renowned adjudicators, clinicians and guest artists. The festival is designed to be an educational experience for band directors and students from middle school through college. Ensembles perform for written and recorded comments and then proceed to a different room for a clinic from one of the adjudicators. In addition to the individualized clinic that each band receives, participants also have the opportunity to attend general clinic sessions presented by guest artists and adjudicators. The highlight of the festival is the opportunity to hear professional jazz concerts for free or greatly reduced prices.

Jazz artists that have recently appeared at the Great Plains Jazz Festival include Brubeck Brothers, Bela Fleck, Doc Severinsen, Diane Schuur, the Jim Widner Big Band, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Jim Pugh, Marvin Stamm, Hubert Laws, and the Blue Note 7 featuring Ravi Coltrane and Nicholas Payton.