December 7 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Free
On Saturday, December 7, the Betty Strong Encounter Center will host “Merry TUBACHRISTMAS,” a concert featuring Siouxland area tuba and euphonium players, at 12:00 p.m. Admission is free.
The audience will hear traditional Christmas carols arranged by composer Alec Wilder who died on Christmas Eve 1980. In addition to composing music for the tuba and euphonium, Wilder was a loyal supporter of the efforts to improve the literature and public image of these instruments.
At the first TubaChristmas in 1973, around 300 musicians showed up at the ice-skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, bearing their giant brass instruments. A massive, all-tuba holiday concert was the brainchild of Harvey Phillips, a tuba player and enthusiast who would go on to teach in the music school at Indiana University and start similar tuba-centric traditions such as “Octubafest.”
TubaChristmas concerts have since popped up in practically every state. You can now enjoy the holiday stylings of amateur tuba ensembles in 296 U.S. communities, from Anchorage, Alaska to Hilo, Hawaii. In 2018, overachievers in Kansas City set a Guinness World Record.
