Who are we?
Akshat Jain
Founder, tUba 1/Euphonium 2
Akshat Srinivasan Jain is an immigrant and the mastermind behind Tuba Force, so you know exactly who to blame when you spot us at breweries and venues across Chicago. He is an orchestral tuba player who trained with the best, performs around the country, tours, manages bands, does some arts administration, works as a recording, was in a super–(Cue obnoxiously long cane to drag him from this long list no one cares about) –bowl commercial, is a recording engineer, and teaches!
Um. Anyway. He plays euphonium and tuba in Tuba Force and genuinely loves everyone in the band. You can catch him in Butter Chicken, Mucca Pazza, or freelance gigs around the city when he's not performing with TF.
Say hi if you see him! The joke is he runs into someone everywhere he goes.
Dom’ Gaietto
Founder, Euphonium 1
Dom(inic) Gaietto is a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist, as long as that instument is a trombone and your definition of virtuosic is very loose. In Tuba Force he plays euphonium because it's really just a trombone with cheat codes (valves). Dom is the stereotypical cool guy in the group and loves classic cool guy stuff like Magic the Gathering and Elden Ring lore videos but can also be found comitting sound crimes around town with big bands, genre-less mixed ensembles, and a marching band that thinks it's a rock band (IYKYK)
Riley Leitch
Trombone
Riley Leitch is a rogue, classically trained trombonist. With the skills he learned from Chicago's greatest brass players (MM DePaul) he strides new, unheard of paths. If he doesn't have his nose in a comic book, he is probably improvising with whatever musical materials are at hand (vinyl tubing, accordions, scrap metal, etc.). Riley is an active improvisor in Chicago and regularly premieres new works for trombone and chamber ensemble. He moonlights as a tubist in Tuba Force, where he definitely plays tuba...
Riley Lindsey
Tuba 2
Riley Lindsey has built a career out of a “have tuba, will travel” mentality. Consistently proving himself insane enough to drive stupid distances to play stupid very serious gigs, he has become highly in-demand as an orchestral player across the country. Riley currently serves as the principal tubist of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, the West Michigan Symphony, and the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and formerly served as principal tubist of the Billings Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared with numerous other orchestras, including the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Philharmonic, the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, the Helena Symphony Orchestra, and the Stockton Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to his “Road-warrior” orchestral work, Riley can be found laughing at his own jokes and shaking down the audience for Tuba Force, or teaching private lessons.
Jake Hellevik
Tuba 3
Jake Hellevik is a classically trained tubist and the anchor that locks down the baselines in this eclectic group. Having completed not only his bachelors (Denver University) but also his masters (depaul univeristy) in tuba performance, he’s what most people call a “nerd”. When in his art, you can find him performing with the harper symphony orchestra or tinkering away on his 5 tubas, 4 guitars, euphonium, mandolin, trombone, trumpet, or concertina……(No, he doesn’t have a problem and he can stop collecting orphaned instruments anytime he wants!)
Away from music, Jake can be found metal detecting Chicago’s beaches, taking care of his pet rabbit and cat, and staring up in the rain like a turkey confused by the sounds and sensations pouring from the heavens.