Experience Christmas of yore with brass band

The Illinois Brass Band, the six-time North American Brass Band Association Champion, presents "An Old-fashioned Christmas" at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Hemmens Auditorium, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin.

Tickets range from $15 to $20 and can be purchased by calling (847) 931-5900, at the box office, or online at The Hemmens page at www.cityofelgin.org.

Join the acclaimed Illinois Brass Band for a musical journey through "An Old Fashioned Christmas." With gleaming brass, rhythmic percussion, and joyous voices, celebrate the time-honored tradition of writing letters to Santa Claus. Feel the excitement of children as they craft their letters to Jolly Old Saint Nick, touting their good deeds hoping to gain their hearts' desires.

This eighth annual holiday show includes special guests the Barrington Children's Choir, joining the 30-piece brass ensemble for selected numbers and performing spotlight pieces of their own.

Share the gift of reading with children in need by bringing a new, unwrapped book (English or Spanish) to the concert to be donated to the Elgin Salvation Army Community Center for their Christmas programs. For details, visit www.illinoisbrassband.org.

The band, formed in March 1991 in the tradition of British brass bands, is dedicated to bringing the finest brass band music available to audiences throughout the Chicago area, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Band members include volunteer musicians from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The 30-person ensemble maintains an active concert schedule, performing 15-20 concerts per year.