For tuba player Bill Kaempfe, it’s all about the fundamentals.
“When you’re playing tuba, it’s the fundamental sound of the band. It gives the support,” said Kaempfe, president and member of the award-winning Illinois Brass Band, which performs a free outdoor concert in Round Lake Beach May 28.
“The tuba section is the whole foundation of the band supporting it from the bottom,” he said. “Sometimes the parts aren’t very interesting, other times, they’re quite challenging,” but no matter what he enjoys the special sound only a brass band can make. “It’s a very rich and mellow sound,” he said.
For the concert, patrons can bring blankets and lawn chairs and listen to patriotic music, he said. It will be moved indoors in case of poor weather, he said.
The band will open with the National Anthem and then follow with music from the Broadway musical “Chicago,” as well as “Armed Forces Salute,” which consist of the five service songs. “That one always goes over really big with the audience,” Kaempfe said. Conductor Stephen Squires invites each of the Armed Forces members in the audience to stand when their service song is played.
Some J. P. Sousa marches are also on the program, including most likely “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which begs the question: Who plays the traditional piccolo part?
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“The soprano cornet player will perform that part, and it sounds great,” Kaempfe said, adding, “If we get someone to come to a brass band concert, I can guarantee they’re going to like something about the concert.
“There are a couple of things that are really exciting about the brass band. When we need to, we can play very loud and exciting with emotion. But it’s also just as exciting and emotional when the group plays very, very softly.”
Founded in 1991 by George Foster and William Homer, the Illinois Brass Band has won six national championships, performed overseas and presents dozens of concerts in the Chicago area annually. Membership ranges from between 25 and 30 brass players, including tuba, cornet, euphonium and tenor horn. The band is patterned after traditional English brass bands, with historical ties to the Salvation Army Band.
“We are considered a British-style brass band — it has to do with the instrumentation,” Kaempfe said. For example, the band uses cornets, not trumpets, to produce a mellower sound, he said.
Two types of tubas are also used — one pitched in E flat and another in B flat, he said. The B flat tuba — which he plays — produces the deep base notes. “The E fat tubas are pitched a little higher and get a little more solo work,” he said. “They’re the bridge between the trombones and euphoniums.”
Most pieces also have some added percussion — for example, a snare drum with the marches, he said.
The band’s music director Stephen Squires is the principal conductor and professor of conducting in the Music Conservatory at Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University.
“He’s an incredible musician,” Kaempfe said of Squires. “He brings so much to the group including his experience and his understanding of brass playing and musical interpretation.”
Kaempfe said the band’s concerts are family-oriented and use no amplification of sound. Band members will walk around before the concert or during intermission to talk to the audience members, including the youngsters who like to see the instruments, he said.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer for the News-Sun.
Illinois Brass Band
When: 2 p.m. May 28
Where: Round Lake Beach Cultural & Civic Center, 2007 Civic Center Way, Round Lake Beach
Tickets: Free
Information: 847-201-9032; www.villageofroundlakebeach.com/230/Cultural-Civic-Center