Tuba ensemble bellows holiday cheer in Naperville

Tuba players from throughout the region gathered in downtown Naperville Saturday to entertain shoppers with holiday tunes.

"My favorite is the version of Jingle Bells they do where they break out into a little Sousa in the middle," said Naperville resident Mary Miller, whose son Geoffrey was one of the 57 members of the tuba ensemble.

Naperville Municipal Band Director Ron Keller organizes the event each year and agreed the arrangement of Jingle Bells for tuba is a showstopper.

"Every time we play it, it gets the biggest applause," he said. "Everyone thinks with tubas the music is going to be bombastic, but it's very mellow."

And it's a bit of a misnomer to say it's all tubas being played. There are sousaphones, euphoniums and baritones as well.

Kevin Sweeney of Aurora was playing baritone instead of his usual tuba Saturday, which was a good thing, according to his mother Sandy.

"He had to pick up his friend who also plays the tuba and I don't think they could have fit both in the car," she said.

The group played in front of the U.S. Bank branch on Jefferson Avenue for about two hours and then headed off to the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora for a second gig. The weather cooperated this year, unlike in the past where cold temperatures caused valves to freeze.

"It was balmy today compared to what we've had in the past," Keller said.