She’s been making music with the Naperville Municipal Band since she was a teen, married one of their trumpet players and has just taken over the baton as their director, but Emily Binder is not one to blow her own horn.
Instead, she’s in awe of her new position and the man whose shoes she’s filling after a 57-year tenure, Ron Keller.
“It’s extremely humbling to be asked to be the steward of this very magnificent thing,” she said. “I’m motivated by someone who has devoted his life to it. It’s a strong responsibility.
“As a Napervillian for a very long time, I want to serve the community the way Ron did. It’s an amazing and unique thing. I want to make sure it keeps going. It’s very exciting and of course I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little nervous but want the band to feel safe. I want them to think we’re just picking up where we left off.”
In addition to being the first new band director in Naperville in more than 50 years, Binder is also aware there aren’t many women in her role. According to the League of American Orchestras, only 14.6% of U.S. orchestra conductors, including youth, pop and choruses, were led by women as of 2016.
One of them is Barbara Schubert, who has led the DuPage Symphony Orchestra since 1986.
“Women have always been making music since the dawn of time,” Binder said. “It’s so important in education and art to reflect everyone. Part of our remit is to reflect people in the town. I had extraordinary mentors who were all men, but I never considered gender because I was treated as an equal. I am excited to show lots of people that women can be anything.”
A Naperville resident since 1986, Binder is a graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora and received her undergraduate degree in music education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her master’s in school administration from North Central College in Naperville.
She joined the muninipal band’s tuba section in 1987 and has served as the group’s assistant director for eight years.
Professionally, she is a member of the instrumental music faculty at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, where she teaches concert bands, jazz ensemble, pep band and marching band.
When she joined the municipal band, she was just 15, making her the youngest member at the time. Her invitation came from Keller, who was her tuba teacher. Prior to that, she played trumpet.
“I took to the tuba and Ron asked me to sit in,” she said. “It was terrifying. There’s so much repetition when you learn in school. You might practice one piece for a month or longer, but we just practiced once a week. A lot of notes were going by quickly.”
A few years later, the young tuba player was making sweet music with trumpet player Bob Binder.
“I became a bonus mom to his children,” she said.
Binder left the band for a few years but returned to play tuba in 2015, the same time that she became assistant director.
“What’s really great is that Ron offered me a lot of opportunities,” she said. “But it’s very different to have the title of director now. I’ve been supporting Ron this summer and because of the amount I was conducting, I don’t think it’s surprising that I have this new role.”
There are, of course, challenges in the world of the municipal band. Audiences are still below their pre-pandemic numbers, and you need only look at the average age of those in the audience at the band’s Thursday night summer concerts to know what the future might look like.
“It used to be a way of life to take children to classical and Broadway events,” Binder said. “Today we are not asking people to consume as many things.”
Maybe because of that, she says she’s keen to connect with younger families. She’d like to bring back children’s concerts and include more current movie music that’s accessible to everyone, she said.
Eventually, she would like audiences to see more diversity in the band’s membership. That may take some time because once a musician earn a spot, they tend to hold on to it. This summer they celebrated three members who have been playing with the band for 50 years.
While it’s true some of the band’s musicians are music teachers, many others come from all walks of life — from scientists and doctors to engineers and construction workers.
“I think music makes them better at their jobs because they know how to collaborate and how to fail and try again,” Binder said. “They all follow other pursuits, but music is the enduring thing that ties us together.”
The band is at such a high level that they generally only need one run-through of a show before they give their performance.
“They are good friends pulling together to create a piece of art,” she said. “They have shared stories, laughs and great memories. We have gone through so many things bigger than music but music gets us in the door together, that’s the beautiful thing about this.”
Binder and the band can be see doing their thing at the Naperville Labor Day Parade and the 9/11 Memorial. They’re also preparing for their first indoor concert of the new season on Nov. 5.
Hilary Decent is a freelance journalist who moved to Naperville from England in 2007.
