Tuba Christmas - Madison, WI 2023

Holiday Tubas Tooting - Concerts Everywhere!  
This was the Madison, WI concert Dec 9, 2023 which featured 230 tubaists playing in the state capitol rotunda.
It marks the 50th anniversary of the first Tuba Christmas - performed in 1974. Here’s the back story :

TUBA CHRISTMAS -
If there’s a comic-uncle instrument in the orchestra family, the champion might be the Tuba. (The Latin word for “trumpet.”) Known best for its low guttural notes that recall unintentional body noises, the big horn has charmed its way into our hearts, a kind of lovable low-note, a sometimes near-embarrassing relative counterpoint to the angelic harp or ethereal flute.

In a stroke of genius in 1974, tubaist Harvey Phillips decided to honor his teacher and mentor William J. Bell who was born Christmas Day, 1902. Through the legendary Bell, and the tuba, Phillips had found a loving musical camaraderie often envied by all other instrumentalists. He arranged for the first TUBACHRISTMAS, conducted by Paul Lavalle in New York City at Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink, Dec 22, 1974. Traditional Christmas music performed there was arranged by American composer Alec Wilder, famous for his many solo and ensemble compositions for tuba and euphonium.

Phillips’ TUBACHRISTMAS so delighted the crowds with its bright spirit of celebration and good fellowship that it has become a festive seasonal salute enjoyed by millions around the world. In 2023, a half century after that first event, brightly dressed tuba players gather with their gayly decorated instruments to oom-pah-up holiday favorites in concerts in churches, museums, beer halls and parking lots all over the planet. Here’s a short list of free programs – for a full list check this link:  https://tinyurl.com/

GOTTUBACHRISTMAS
·         Dec 16, 1:00 & 4:00 PM Milwaukee (Glendale)- Bavarian Bierhause, 700 W Lexington Blvd - David Carlton
·         Dec 23, 11:30AM - Chicago, IL - Palmer House- Conductor Ret. Colonel, Michael Colburn, U.S. Marine Band