Naperville, Wheaton strike up the band for summer concert seasons

It would be easy to suggest the opening of the municipal band season in Naperville was a nostalgic trip back in time.

The band, after all, was formed in 1859 and Director Ron Keller has been wielding his baton for the past 53 years.

But the reality for those who gathered Thursday evening in Central Park was something a little different, because the season's first outdoor concert - "Another Opening, Another Show" - is part of our time, too.

The band's 90-some musicians, for example, range in age from 17 to 85. And on Thursday, eighth-grade musicians from each middle school in Naperville Unit District 203 and Indian Prairie Unit District 204 performed with the band for two numbers.

Just a few miles away, the Wheaton Municipal Band was opening its summer concert season with a performance titled "Band Sounds Spectacular" in Memorial Park. The 87-member ensemble celebrated Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday, but also performed a medley from "Grease."

In both cases, it was possible to see the park settings like something out of Mayberry, or maybe the perfect opportunity for John Philip Sousa to emerge from the trees carrying his tuba.

But it also was a chance to see people of all ages coming together to share the joy of big bands and the realization that good music is, and always will be, timeless.