A promotional image for Fontenelle Forest's Bur Oak and Beyond concert series features a secluded woodland cabin nestled among towering trees, highlighting the natural setting that serves as the backdrop for the performances. (Image courtesy of Fontenelle Forest.)
By Gabriel Escalera
Orchestra Omaha Is Taking Baroque Music Into The Woods — Literally
July 28th, 2026
Ken Meints can trace his love of classical music back to a stack of records nobody else in his house ever touched.
“My mother had a collection of RCA records that were sent to her weekly, and she never listened to them,” Meints said. “But I found them, and I started playing them on an old phonograph we had in the basement. I got hooked on Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.”
No one else in his family played an instrument; his grandmother was a self-taught pianist who tried, unsuccessfully, to teach him a little. He found his own way into music instead, and today he’s the music director of Orchestra Omaha. He also teaches brass and composition at the Omaha Conservatory of Music, and his primary day job is running the orchestra program at Westside Community Schools.
This month, Meints is adding something new to that list: co-launching the first-ever partnership between Orchestra Omaha and Fontenelle Forest, an outdoor concert series called “Burr Oak at Fontenelle.”
The series traces back to an unplanned conversation between two people who don’t usually cross paths, the executive directors of Orchestra Omaha and Fontenelle Forest, who met at an executive development conference.
“They got talking about how we could merge our audiences a little,” Meints said, “and get some of our clientele out to Fontenelle Forest, which is just a gorgeous retreat in the middle of Omaha.”
The name is a deliberate pun, burr oaks for baroque music, but it also describes exactly how the series is meant to feel.
“It’s meant to be more like an experiential thing,” Meints said. “You can walk amongst the oaks, come back, listen to some music, wander off, wander in and out. It’s kind of an experience rather than a concert.”
Because this is the first time the two organizations have partnered on anything like this, the format is intentionally modest. Rather than a full orchestra, the series features smaller chamber ensembles, easier to stage outdoors, and, Meints says, better suited to the informal setting.
“It’s an organic sort of experience,” he said, “where you can be in nature and experience God’s creation, and then listen to some beautiful music that’s taken inspiration from God’s creation. Hopefully those two things harmonize well.”
The series opens July 31st with a brass quintet, Meints included, playing trombone. A second concert follows on the last Friday of August, featuring a chamber orchestra performing excerpts from Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, the same piece that first drew Meints into classical music decades ago.
Both shows take place at Camp Brewster, part of the Fontenelle Forest campus, running from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with doors, or rather, the grounds, open at 6 for anyone who wants to arrive early and wander. If it rains, the series moves indoors to the nature center.
Entry is free for Fontenelle Forest members; everyone else pays the standard $10 park admission. Organizers recommend bringing a blanket or camp chair.
As for what’s on the program, Meints says to expect variety.
“It’s going to be a very eclectic program, everything from baroque music to more contemporary jazz, and ragtime,” he said. “We’re just going to play a lot of things that your casual concertgoer can relate to.”
This year’s run is intentionally small, just July and August, with hopes of expanding to include June next year if the series draws a crowd.
