Sadie Uhing graduates from UNK next month with bachelor’s degrees in K-12 music education and music performance. She was recently hired as the new orchestra director at Kearney High School. (Erika Pritchard, UNK Communications, Courtesy))
KEARNEY – For Sadie Uhing, music is much more than just entertainment.
It’s a big part of who she is.
Uhing fondly recalls those moments as a young child when she’d get a little too carried away while performing her favorite songs.
“My mom would have to yell at me to be quiet when I was singing in the shower because I’d be so loud,” she said with a laugh.
“I just had an affinity for music right away,” Uhing added. “It’s funny because none of my siblings were really involved in music, but for me, I didn’t have any question. It was just something I loved from the start.”
The Hartington native started playing the trumpet in elementary school and continued to increase her involvement as the years passed. At Cedar Catholic High School, she found the perfect role model in former band director Pat Sedivy.
“She was really the one who got me interested in music education,” Uhing said. “She was short like me; she played the trumpet; she called me her mini-me. And she inspired me in so many ways.”
Uhing learned to appreciate the intricacies of music – how it can be used to express emotions, tell stories and bring people together.
“I just feel such a personal connection when I’m playing music or listening to music because I’m thinking about the different ways it can convey feelings and the meanings behind it all,” she said.
Uhing visited the University of Nebraska at Kearney during high school and “fell in love with the campus and everything here.” She committed to a career path during All-State Band in November of her senior year.
“That’s when it hit me,” Uhing explained. “I was like, I’m in my element. I love what I’m doing here. I love the people I’m meeting. And I want to do this for the rest of my life.”
ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES
UNK music professor Tim Farrell calls Uhing a hardworking, humble and dedicated musician who leads by example.
“Her exceptional balance of personal and musical skills makes her outstanding at what she does,” Farrell said. “She is a strong musician who can express herself on the trumpet and as a conductor. She also knows how to get others to express themselves in an ensemble setting.”
Uhing has come a long way since 2019, when she showed up at UNK as a nervous freshman four hours away from her hometown.
“Everyone I met here instantaneously was like family. The friends I made, the role models I look up to, all of those people hugely impacted my life for the better,” she said.
Those relationships gave her the confidence to pursue new experiences and opportunities at UNK.
She was a drum major and section leader for the Pride of the Plains Marching Band, first chair and section leader for the Jazz/Rock Ensemble and president of the Wind Ensemble. Uhing also directed the Jazz/Rock Ensemble and conducted the Symphonic Band. In 2022, she won the UNK Concerto/Aria Competition, which recognizes outstanding student performers on campus.
A member of the Kappa Kappa Psi honors organization and past president of the National Association for Music Education chapter, Uhing’s talent stood out well beyond Kearney, too. She was selected for the National Intercollegiate Band on two occasions and participated in a virtual halftime show for the College Football Playoff National Championship as a member of the College Band Directors National Association Intercollegiate Marching Band.
“Campus involvement is really important to me because it allows you to meet so many different people,” said Uhing, who served on the UNK Student Executive Advisory Team and Music Student Advisory Committee. “It’s amazing how many connections you can make.”
In addition to all of those activities, Uhing worked as an office associate and sound coordinator for the music program, tutored fellow music students, taught private lessons for local youths and served as an instructor for summer marching band camps at UNK, Kearney High School and Grand Island Senior High School.
“I’ve gotten a lot of hands-on experience,” she said with a smile. “It’s a great way to get your foot in the door.”
Uhing completed her student teaching at Kearney Public Schools last semester, giving her time to accomplish another goal.
“I realized after four years that I’ve always wanted to study abroad,” she said.
A little over a year ago, Uhing was part of a Pride of the Plains Marching Band trip to Ireland, where they explored cultural and historical sites and performed during the annual New Year’s Festival in Dublin. Once she was bitten by the travel bug, she knew she needed to see more of the world.
With assistance from Farrell, Uhing organized an independent research experience that allowed her to spend about two months in Germany, where she studied under renowned composer, conductor and trumpet player Anthony Plog. She also explored the differences between the piston-valve trumpets that are popular in America and their rotary-valve counterparts commonly played in Europe. The Trumpet Museum in Bad Säckingen was a valuable resource for her research, which she presented during the annual UNK Research Day event earlier this month.
“When we’re in America, everything seems so small, especially when you spend most of your life in just one town. But going to another country and seeing everything there – the landscape, the architecture – it’s so much different,” Uhing said. “And the music in Germany is way different than it is here. There’s Mozart and Bach and all of those really famous artists and just a ton of history there that I really wanted to grasp onto and learn more about.”
DREAM JOB
Uhing returned from Germany in early March, but not before making another life-altering decision.
She interviewed for and accepted the orchestra director position at Kearney High School while studying abroad.
“I was so excited, because I loved working with the band directors there during my time student teaching,” said Uhing, who starts her full-time position in August. “I fell in love with the school and really enjoyed getting to know the students. They were all super kind to me, and I realized that if I can get this job, this is where I need to be at this point in my life.”
Currently, Uhing is substitute teaching within the KPS system while completing her final courses at UNK. She’s also taking violin lessons and recently joined the Omaha-based Nebraska Brass Band.
None of that surprises Farrell.
“As a student, Sadie took on lots of responsibility and always did exceptional work,” the UNK professor said. “She raised the bar for the students around her, but in a way that did not intimidate them.”
Uhing will graduate magna cum laude next month with bachelor’s degrees in K-12 music education and music performance. Of course, she’s also performing the national anthem at the May 17 ceremony.
Moving forward, she hopes to inspire her own students to continue pursuing their passions.
“She will be an excellent teacher,” Farrell said. “She is talented and very self-reflective. If there is something she doesn’t understand, she will work hard to improve and not let that be a deficiency. She will continue to grow as a musician and inspire excellence at Kearney High School.”
As she prepares for the next chapter in her musical journey, Uhing is thankful for her time at UNK.
“It opened me up to so many different opportunities and helped me grow into the person I am today,” she said. “I definitely wouldn’t be this successful in music if I would have gone anywhere else, because I’ve had so many supporters, role models and advocates for me here. And with all of those people in my life, I’m the person and educator that I was hoping to be.”
