Chair, Region 3; Member, Board of Directors
Elected November 2025; term ends November 2027
KAREN FANNIN serves as Director of the School of Music, Professor of Conducting, and holds the Robert M. Spire Chair of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). She previously served as Director of Bands at UNO, conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, teaching undergraduate and graduate conducting, instructing courses in music education, and providing leadership for all aspects of the UNO band program. Before coming to Nebraska, Professor Fannin was Director of Bands and Department Chair at Hendrix College, and concurrently held the position of Music Director and Conductor of the Little Rock Winds. A native of Iowa, Professor Fannin began her teaching career in the Lynnville-Sully Schools as Director of Bands and subsequently served as Director of Bands at Lockport Township High School in suburban Chicago.
Professor Fannin is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator around the country and abroad. Passionate about making interdisciplinary connections that impact a conductor’s work with an ensemble, she has presented on topics such as pacing in rehearsals and performance, communication in music, parallels between the ensemble and business, and the lineage of Nadia Boulanger through wind repertoire. She is published in the Journal of Band Research and is a contributing author to the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series published by GIA. Professor Fannin is a member of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA). She currently serves as Past President of the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association (NSBA).
Professor Fannin earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Colorado, a Master of Music in Conducting from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Updated January 2026