120511 Tuba Christmas – a tradition like none other

  • By Sharon Haught
  • November 28, 2011
  • 270
                        
Summary: Combine 80 tuba, sousaphone, euphonium and baritone players with Christmas carols and what do you get? A tradition like none other. A Wayne County Tuba Christmas. Gently falling snow. Brightly lit Christmas trees. Churches glowing by candlelight. While Christmastime conjures up many different images, in Wooster there is one more image that is as much a part of Christmas as all that traditional fare. Tubas playing Christmas carols. As they have for the past 18 years, on Dec. 10 at noon tuba, sousaphone, euphonium and baritone players from across Ohio will make their way to the Wooster High School Performing Arts Center to present A Wayne County Tuba Christmas. More than 80 instrumentalists and over 1000 audience members are expected to take part in this unique event which features audience members singing carols accompanied by instruments in the tuba family. According to Wooster High School instrumental music instructor and Tuba Christmas conductor Doug Bennett Wooster is one of nearly 250 Tuba Christmas cities around the world. In addition to locations in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Tuba Christmas celebrations are also held in Switzerland, Costa Rica and Canada. This year marks the 38th anniversary of this unique worldwide event which brings together those who play, teach and compose music for the instruments in the tuba family including tuba, sousaphone, baritone and euphonium. According to the Tuba Christmas web site the idea for the event was conceived by Indiana University tuba instructor Harvey Phillips as a tribute to the achievements of his teacher William J. Bell. Bell, who is considered by many to be the father of American tuba playing, was born on Christmas Day in 1902. The first Tuba Christmas was held on Dec. 22, 1974 at New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink with Paul Vavalle conducting over 300 musicians. Traditional Christmas music performed at the first Tuba Christmas was arranged by American composer Alec Wilder, who ironically died on Christmas Eve of 1980. The event has since grown to hundreds of cities around the world. According to Bennett Wooster area musicians have long been a part of the Tuba Christmas tradition. In the early days of the Tuba Christmas movement Bennett and former Wooster Chief of Police Steve Thornton lead a contingent of Wooster students to the Akron Tuba Christmas celebration. By the mid 1990’s the Wooster group had become so large that Bennett and Thornton decided to establish their own Tuba Christmas in Wooster. According to Bennett, all tuba, sousaphone, euphonium and baritone players, regardless of age, are invited to take part in the event. Bennett noted that the $5 registration fee for the event includes a 2011 Tuba Christmas pin. Advance registration is not required. Registration will take place from 9:00-10:00 a.m. followed by a one hour rehearsal, a short break and the actual performance at noon. Bennett noted that while musicians participating in the concert should bring their own Tuba Christmas book additional copies will be available for purchase on the day of the performance for $18. Tuba Christmas is being held in conjunction with the annual Wooster High School Music Parents Association all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, which will be held in the Commons outside of the Performing Arts Center from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Tickets for the Pancake Breakfast will be available at the door at a cost of $5 for adults and $3 for children ten and under. Children two and under are free. Proceeds from the pancake breakfast will be used to support upcoming trips planned by the instrumental and vocal music programs at Wooster High School, including the band’s trip to Disney World this spring. For more information on A Wayne County Tuba Christmas contact Doug Bennett at Wooster High School at 330-345-4000 or 330-345-8766.


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