Naperville Municipal Band to open spring season

The Naperville Municipal Band isn't walking down the aisle, but members hope the theme of this spring's opening concert indicates many more years to celebrate.

"Something old, something new, nothing borrowed, but Navy blue," is the theme Director Ron Keller and his 100-member band will follow at its first concert of the season Sunday - the first of many performances that will, in part, pay homage to the band's 150th anniversary.

"We're trying to show the difference between music written and arranged from the earliest century to what is being arranged today," Keller said.

The Naperville Municipal Band formed in 1859 as the Naperville Light Guard and is one of the nation's oldest community bands. Today, members perform throughout the year at indoor concerts in fall, winter and spring and weekly outdoor concerts on Thursday evenings throughout the summer at the Naperville Community Concert Center in Central Park.

Sunday's concert kicks off with "something old," four songs that are a throwback to the band's April 7, 1921, spring concert.

The idea first came to Keller to mimic that program from 88 years ago while he was working on the book "The First 150 (The Story of the Naperville Municipal Band)." His mother had saved an old program from a concert on April 7, 1921.

All but two of the selections from that concert are still in the band's library, and Keller knew the names of all but four of the 33 members.

Audience members at this year's spring concert will get a replica copy of the program from the Spring Concert of April 7, 1921, and hear pieces that have withstood the test of time, Keller said. Those songs are the "Dunlap Commandery," "Poet and Peasant," "Remembrance of Liberati" and "Gate City."

For "something new," Assistant Conductor Rene Rosas organized a compilation of hits from the band Chicago.

Keller said the band had "nothing borrowed" because all of the music for this concert comes from the existing library.

The band will pay homage to "Navy blue" with several pieces, including a performance of Claude Smith's arrangement of the Navy hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" and John Philip Sousa's "The Glory of the Yankee Navy."

One way the band will emphasize the different music styles then and now is by featuring the French horn section in "Eternal Father, Strong to Save." It's an instrument that many years ago had never been singled out before, Keller said.

"Today the French horn parts that are written for bands are very challenging and demanding for the musicians to perform," he said. "Those are the kinds of things that have changed over the years."

The concert is part of the Naperville Municipal Band's sesquicentennial celebration where every event this year will feature some unique perspective on the band's history in Naperville.

Throughout the summer, each of the concerts will be divided into 15-year segments and feature some tunes from that era.

Musicians may model different uniforms from throughout the years. At one concert, they'll honor Barbie's 50th birthday by playing "Oh, You Beautiful Doll." Children at the concert will bring their Barbie dolls and parade them around during the song.

For more information about the band or the upcoming concerts, visit www.napervilleband.org.

If you go

What: Naperville Municipal Band Spring Concert

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, April 5

Where: Naperville Central High School auditorium, 440 Aurora Ave.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Info: Visit www.napervilleband.org