Praised by critics for her “great virtuosity and flair” and “exquisite artistry,” Diane Barger is the Ron and Carol Cope Professor of Music (Clarinet) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she has served on the faculty since 1994. A dedicated and award-winning educator, she is the recipient of the 2013 Annis Chaikin Sorensen Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Humanities and the 2001 Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Distinguished College Teaching Award. At UNL, she also serves as Woodwind Area Head and is principal clarinet of Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra (since 2002).
Barger is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in the clarinet profession. She is the immediate Past President of the International Clarinet Association (ICA), having previously served as President (2022-2024), President elect (2020-2022), Nebraska State Chair (2010-2020), Pedagogy Chair (2016-2018), Artistic Director of the 2012 ClarinetFest®, Treasurer (2004-2010), and Coordinator of the High School Solo Competition (2003-2005). She also serves as the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI) Nebraska State Chair, and is a Buffet Crampon Artist/Clinician, Légère Endorsing Artist, and member of the Silverstein Pro Team.
An active soloist, chamber musician, clinician, and adjudicator, Barger has appeared throughout the United States and abroad. She has been a featured artist and lecturer at nearly thirty ICA ClarinetFests®, including festivals in Italy, Portugal, Canada, Japan, and across the U.S. She also performed numerous times at the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, at several National and International College Music Society and NACWPI conferences, and at the 2023 European Clarinet Congress in Tilburg. As a master class clinician, she has worked with students across the United States and abroad and served on the Artist Faculty for the 2026 Buffet Crampon Summer Clarinet Academy, following her appearance at the academy in 2025.
Barger’s recording and music publishing projects reflect her wide-ranging artistic interests and her commitment to expanding the clarinet repertoire. A leading scholar and performer of 19th-century operatic fantasies based on the operas of Vincenzo Bellini, Barger is featured as a soloist on the ICA’s 1998 Recording Project performing Domenico Mirco’s La Sonnambula Fantasia. In 2012, she released BlingBling, a CD of works by Scott McAllister, and published thirteen editions of Bellini operatic fantasies through Potenza Music. With the Moran Woodwind Quintet, Barger recorded CDs for Crystal Records entitled Postcards from the Center (1998), featuring works by Lieuwen, Murdock, Higdon, and Heiden, and two albums of music by Theodore Blumer (2004 and 2007). Her chamber ensemble Trio 402 released its album Conversations Between Friends in 2016, featuring music for clarinet, bassoon, and piano by William Hurlstone and Bill Douglas. Finally, with the Amicitia Duo, Barger released the duo’s debut recording, Play Pretty, in 2020, which highlights works written specifically for the duo featuring music for E-flat clarinet (Barger’s specialty) and B-flat clarinet.
As a chamber musician, Barger performs regularly with the Amicitia Duo, a long-standing clarinet duo with Denise Gainey. The duo has toured extensively across the United States and in Florida, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, and Iowa and was featured at the 2023 European Clarinet Congress in Tilburg and the 2020 Texas Clarinet Colloquium. They have also performed at several ICA ClarinetFests® and NACWPI conferences. Formed out of friendship, the Amicitia Duo brings music for clarinet to a wide variety of audiences. Amicitia is the Latin word for friendship and is pronounced “ah-mee-KEE-tee-ah”. With a friendship that spans over thirty years, Barger and Gainey combine their love of music and teaching to delight audiences around the world.
In the fall of 2025, Barger established a new ensemble for two clarinets and piano, Trio con Spirito, with colleagues Deborah Bish (professor of clarinet at Florida State University) and Mark Clinton (emeritus professor of piano at UNL). They debuted as a trio in September 2025's inaugural Single Reed Day event at UNL and are set to tour in Missouri and Kansas in October 2026.
Barger is also a former member of the Moran Woodwind Quintet (1994-2023), with whom she performed nationally and internationally, including appearances at multiple College Music Society National Conferences, chamber music series, and festivals. Their 1998 compact disc recording by Crystal Records, "Postcards from the Center," features works by American composers Lieuwen, Murdock, Higdon, and Heiden. Their 2007 and 2004 CD projects feature the music of Theodore Blumer and are also available through Crystal Records. In the most recent years, music by Scott McAllister (OK Quintet) and John Steinmetz (All the Difference) were commissioned for this prestigious ensemble.
Barger holds the Doctor of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from Florida State University, where she studied with Frank Kowalsky, and the Master of Music degree and Graduate Certificate in Performance from Northwestern University, where she studied with Robert Marcellus. Her scholarly work has been supported by a University of Nebraska–Lincoln Faculty Summer Research Fellowship and Grant-in-Aid in addition to numerous Hixson-Lied grants. In addition to being a member of the International Clarinet Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the Music Teachers National Association, and Sigma Alpha Iota, Barger serves as Woodwind Area Head at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2025-present and 2000-2020).
