Skip to main content
Events

BYU hosts Utah Tuba Christmas Concert, Dec. 5

Performance Date: Dec. 5, 2015

Time: Noon

Location: Madsen Recital Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU

The BYU School of Music presents the 36th annual Utah Tuba Christmas Concert in the Madsen Recital Hall on Saturday, Dec. 5, at noon. The event is free to the public.

The concert will include performances by a tuba-euphonium ensemble of more than forty musicians; the BYU Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble, BYU Tuba Quartet and the BYU Jazz Legacy Band specializing in New Orleans-style jazz.

Tuba Christmas is organized and directed by Steve Call, a BYU tuba and euphonium professor. Call and Utah Symphony tubist Gene Pokorny organized the first Utah TubaChristmas Concert in 1980.

"It's great to see a concert specifically for musicians that are relegated to the back row of the band or orchestra," said Call. "Now they'll have the opportunity to shine in the front. People seem to always be surprised that the music produced by these large brass instruments is not loud or harsh, but rich, warm and engulfing."

Performance in the Tuba Christmas Ensemble is open to musicians of all ages who play instruments that are members of the tuba family (tuba, Sousaphone, euphonium, baritone horn, helicon, serpent and ophicleide).

Performers are encouraged to decorate themselves and their instruments in holiday fashion. The concert is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Keeping with the tradition of this festive event, the concert will be entertaining, full of surprises and, as always, the musical "low point" of your holiday season! 

Tuba Christmas was conceived in 1974 by the late Harvey Phillips, Distinguished Professor of Tuba at Indiana University, as a tribute to his teacher William J. Bell, born on Christmas Day in 1902.  Bell was Sousa's Principal Tubist and was the most influential tuba performer and teacher of the early twentieth century. Since 1974, the TubaChristmas movement has expanded throughout North America. In November and December there are well over 200 TubaChristmas Concerts scheduled in cities throughout the United States and Canada.

Writer: Riley Oliphant

TubaChristmas.jpg
Photo by BYU Arts

Related Articles

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=true overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=true overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=true overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=true overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=