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Naperville band seeking city grant for Texas convention

The Naperville Municipal Band is set to head south next summer to tell its story through tunes and share a glimpse of Naperville with some music-loving Texans.

The band is making plans for 85 of its 90 members to travel to San Antonio from July 23 through 26 for the Texas Bandmasters Convention, a 68th annual gathering of band directors and music industry leaders that's expected to draw more than 6,500 people.

Ron Keller, Naperville Municipal Band director, said his group was asked to perform because convention organizers want to highlight community bands as the next step in music education for those who do not play professionally. Often, Keller said, convention performers are high-profile groups such as U.S. Air Force Band of the West or Canadian Brass, or Texas-based groups such as Austin Symphonic Band.

"It was really quite a surprise for us to get invited," Keller said.

So Keller and Assistant Director Rene Rosas, who graduated from college and taught music in Texas, gladly accepted the offer. They're brainstorming what to play to accomplish the aim of having each performance say something about the band's roots.

"What they said to us was, 'We don't want you to come down here and play fancy music to impress people; we want you to tell your story,'" Keller said. "'Why is Naperville's band so successful? Why do you get big crowds at your concerts?'"

The band plans to play the second movement of the Heritage Suite commissioned in 1988 after the death of Keller's father, Adam Keller, to highlight one similarity between San Antonio and Naperville - the presence of a popular waterside walking path.

"The tie-in we're going to use in our concert is we have a Riverwalk and they have a Riverwalk," Keller said.

The Heritage Suite starts with The Settlement, moves to The Riverwalk and ends with Central Park, an ode to the venue where the band plays.

With the invitation to play in Texas accepted, the band is seeking $28,000 from the city of Naperville's Special Events and Cultural Amenities fund to help pay for transportation.

"We're hopeful that the people who are in charge respect the fact that we're representing Naperville and this is telling our story," Keller said.

The request for convention travel expenses is on top of the band's usual grant application, which this year resulted in the group receiving $137,000 to fund community concerts and parades.

Keller said the $28,000 would cover more than half of the $50,000 it's expected to cost to fly and drive instruments and band members to the Lone Star State.

While smaller instruments, such as flutes, clarinets and trumpets, can be stowed easily as carry-ons in airplane overhead compartments, larger instruments such as tubas, euphoniums and trombones can risk damage if they're loaded into cargo holds, Keller said. So two band members will be driving a large van to the convention carting the bulkiest instruments and 60 weighty folders of sheet music.

The band's request for money from the Special Events and Cultural Amenities fund known as SECA is set to be considered along with dozens of others during a meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, of the city's advisory cultural commission. The commission will meet again at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, to listen to public comment about grant applications from the fund, which is supported by a 1 percent tax on food and beverage purchases in Naperville.

The city council later will decide which applications to fund and how much to grant each cultural activity, special event or new program.w

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The Naperville Municipal Band plans to skip one Central Park performance in July to travel to San Antonio and play at the 68th annual Texas Bandmasters Convention. Daily Herald file photo
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