Tuba Players Invited to Play at KSC Christmas Concert
KEENE, N.H. 11/12/02 - All area tuba and euphonium (baritone horn) players are invited to perform in a Tuba Christmas concert organized by Douglas Nelson, professor of music at Keene State College, on Sunday, Dec. 8. Registration begins at 11 a.m. with rehearsal starting at 11:30 a.m. to prepare for the 1:30 p.m. concert, which is free and open to the public. Registration, rehearsal, and concert take place in the Mabel Brown Room of the L.P. Young Student Center at Keene State.
Tuba and euphonium players interested in participating in Tuba Christmas should bring their instruments and a folding music stand or lyre to the registration. All music will be march size and furnished at the rehearsal. Players are encouraged to dress in festive green and red attire for the performance and those who do will be provided a pizza lunch at 12:30 p.m.
Each musician is asked to pay a $5 entry fee to benefit the Harvey Phillips Foundation, the nonprofit organization that funds Tuba Christmas concerts nationwide. For further information, call 603-358-2177.
This is the 12th year that Nelson has gathered tuba players of all talents in one location to herald the holidays with Christmas carols and hymns. He launched the Monadnock Regions Tuba Christmas tradition at Colony Mill Marketplace in Keene, but after it began to draw more players and larger audiences than could fit comfortably in the shopping mall, he moved it to Keene State. Last year nearly 50 musicians played to a large crowd at the Student Center.
Tuba Christmas concerts are held throughout the United States. The first took place in New York City on Dec. 22, 1974, to honor William J. Bell, whom many consider the father of the tuba.
The Keene State Tuba Christmas is meant to expose people to the sounds of the tuba and the euphonium, which are not usually heard as solo instruments. Nelson, who plays the euphonium, says its a wonderful instrument that has the same range as the trombone but more mellow tones. The tuba is recognized by everyone for its size, but few people have heard its deep bass pitch as the only sound to fill a concert hall.
