Naperville Municipal Band opens season June 9

Most 13-year-olds spend their Thursday evenings watching their favorite TV shows, playing video games or doing their homework.

But for 15 eighth-graders from Naperville Unit District 203 and Indian Prairie Unit District 204, Thursday nights just gained some vibrato.

As part of the Naperville Municipal Band scholarship competition, nominated students have been invited to help the band launch its summer concert season Thursday, June 9, at Central Park in downtown Naperville.

Only one promising musician is selected from each participating school.

“I want to give it to somebody who is going to be able to play the advanced music the band is going to play,” said Erika McCann, the band director at Madison Junior High in Naperville.

Though each school has a different process, McCann and co-director David Carroll decide which Madison student should receive the nomination by discussing students’ merits, work ethics and enthusiasm throughout the year.

“I thought, ‘For who is this going to make a difference in their musical career?’ ” McCann said. “Who is going to remember this forever?”

Of the 12 students McCann considered, Chase Westenfelder, an eighth-grader who plays the alto saxophone, was chosen as Madison’s scholarship recipient.

“I was so happy that I got it,” Chase said. “I tried to work so hard through my eighth-grade year and I just want to make my school feel proud.”

Chase began playing saxophone in fifth grade despite his instructor’s hesitancy and found music came to him naturally.

“I think his directors at Madison keep him from getting bored,” Chase’s mother, Janie, said. “They’ve always looked for ways to keep Chase motivated and push him further because they knew he could do it.”

Next year Chase will attend Naperville Central High School and play in the marching band as well as the upperclassman wind symphony. He hopes to carry his passion for music to college and beyond.

In addition to performing “John Williams in Concert” and the march “United Nations” with the Municipal Band, each student is awarded $200 to use toward instrument upgrades, sheet music or lessons, McCann said.

The Naperville Municipal Band performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Naperville Community Concert Center, 104 E. Benton Ave. The summer season begins this week and runs through Aug. 11.

Over its 152-year history, the band has been kept alive by a number of dedicated community members and the generosity of the city.

One such individual is Naperville native Ron Keller, the band’s longtime director and conductor.

“I got to live the dream,” said Keller, who has been the band’s director for 46 years. “I always wanted to be a band director and I got to do it.”

Keller, a sousaphone player since age 8, has been involved with the Naperville Municipal Band since 1951 and has incorporated his love for music in many facets of his life, from his previous employment as coordinator of music for District 203 to his annual portrayal of John Philip Sousa at the Paramount Art Center in Aurora.

“No matter what they did to talk me out of it, it didn’t work,” said Keller, of his determination to learn the sousaphone. “Little by little it had grown on me. I loved bands and I loved music.”

The municipal band has known many homes since its creation in 1859. Beginning in the 1890s the group performed in a gazebo built in Central Park that lasted until 1926. The past 85 years have seen first a wooden and then concrete band shell, both supported by city funding, until the construction of the Naperville Community Concert Center in 2002.

For students such as Chase Westenfelder, Keller encourages an adolescent love for music and has made it a priority of the municipal band to give back to the community through programs and performances.

Keeping with tradition, the band hosts a child-friendly performance each summer, transforming the June 23 concert into “A Picnic in the Park” featuring a teddy bear parade. Children are encouraged to bring their bears and march around Central Park while the band plays “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” and “Talk to the Animals.”

Regardless of the concert series or composer, it is clear the band pays homage to the individuals and organizations who have supported its music throughout the years.

On June 16, Assistant Director Rene Rosas will conduct “An Evening with Ann,” a program honoring member Anne Lord for her extensive contributions to the band.

Likewise the final concert entitled “Prelude to Fall,” scheduled for Aug. 11, provides a fitting capstone to the season’s commitment to local recognition and reflection. The program will salute Naperville’s six area high schools with their respective school songs as students prepare to return to classes.

Through each concert, Keller hopes to foster a lifelong love of music, much like his own, in future generations.

“When it gets to be all work and no fun, then I’m not going to do it anymore,” said Keller, 72. “As long as I have my health I don’t see myself retiring.”

Keller also offers a second response for those inquiring about the duration of his position in the band, appropriately spoken by his instrument’s namesake.

“He said ‘When you hear of Sousa dead, you will hear of Sousa retired.’ It was in his blood all the way to the end.”

Scholarship winners

The 14 other winners of Naperville Municipal Band scholarships who will perform in the first concert of the season:

St. Raphael School: Connor Druhan, trumpet

Lincoln Junior High: Asa Ivory-Ellis, French horn

Hill Middle School: Matt Stigler, trumpet

Washington Junior High: Olivia Ryan, oboe

Granger Middle School: Karthik Achar, French horn

SS Peter & Paul School: Dani Wolfe, alto saxophone and Tess Foral, baritone

Jefferson Junior High: Abhinav Dharmaiah, alto saxophone

Scullen Junior High: Jack McCammon, French horn

Crone Middle School: Abbey DeBaene, bassoon

Still Middle School: Vikram Anjur, alto saxophone

Kennedy Junior High: Kireem Nam, flute

Gregory Middle School: Tim Paschal, trumpet

Fischer Middle School: Michael Baker, trombone

If you go

What: Naperville Municipal Band Summer Concerts

Where: Naperville Community Concert Center, 104 E. Benton Ave. in Naperville

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays

Cost: Free

Tips: Bring your own lawn chair or blanket as bench seating is limited

Info: napervilleband.org