Tuba Christmas came “Home for the Holidays” to Keene State College for its 50th anniversary run.
The event took place Sunday, Dec. 3 in the Mabel Brown Room.
The first-ever Tuba Christmas was held at Rockefeller Center in New York City on Dec. 22, 1974. The event was organized by tuba player Harvey G. Phillips to honor his teacher William Bell, who was born on Christmas Day 1902. “This event, in a lot of ways, is the gateway to the Christmas season for me, and I think it is for a lot of people,” said concert Director Dr. John Hart.
The Tuba Christmas welcomes instrumental participation from anyone at any skill level who plays a tuba, a euphonium or a sousaphone. This allowed for a unique mix of student and outside performers from all ages and musical backgrounds.
“We’ve had performers as young as eight and as old as 98. If you can play, you can come play [at Tuba Christmas],” said Hart.
Tuba Christmas audience participation has been hindered in the past few years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the event has been able to return to its full glory in 2023.
Hart, in his second year as director, had to run the 2020 Tuba Christmas concert in a virtual format.
“I didn’t want to have a single year where we didn’t do something,” he said. “The return to normalcy is, for me, probably the biggest celebratory feeling out of all.”
The event has become an annual tradition for many, even from outside of New Hampshire. “Some people come to Tuba Christmases from far afield. Some of our performers will actually come from other states,” said Hart.
The setlist for the performance featured favorite Christmas carols such as “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night,” “Deck the Halls” and “Joy to the World,” along with others. The concert also featured guest conductors Doug Nelson and senior music education major Joe Reppucci. Nelson, as Keene State’s first band director, brought Tuba Christmas to Keene, where it became the second Tuba Christmas to be held in New England (the first having been in Boston). Nelson said his favorite part of Tuba Christmas is its dedicated audience.
“It’s mostly the same people, and they bring their neighbors, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger,” he said.
This was first-year Hailey Taylor’s first time performing in Tuba Christmas. She said she enjoyed the experience..
“I was originally a tuba player, and it was very rare to have a large group of people who all play the same instrument,” Taylor said. “So it was pretty neat to have a big group … I’m very excited to do it next year too.”
Emily Sloane can be contacted at
esloane@kscequinox.com
