There’s something about tubas that foster camaraderie among their players.  Maybe it’s their jovial low tones, or the kind of people a tuba tends to attract, but tuba players can’t seem to help but get together and make beautiful, sweet, deep music. I remember back to my days at my alma mater, Cornell University. Each Halloween, all of the tuba players would climb to the top of the clocktower, an iconic and centrally located landmark on campus. From the belfry, the tubas would point their bells to the four corners, and belt out song after song for all to enjoy.

There may be no larger, or more festive, congregation of tubas than during the annual TubaChristmas, a tradition more than 30 years old. The concept is simple: bring together as many tubas and euphoniums (baritones) as you can find, and have them play one hour’s worth of Christmas and other holiday tunes. “Silent Night,” “Deck the Halls,” “Silver Bells” and maybe Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.

Denver’s TubaChristmas began in 1974 with a tuba player named Bill Clark.  Clark was then teaching at the University of Denver (he’s now at the University of Colorado at Denver, where he’s an associate professor of music theory and the director of the Claim Jumpers, a jazz ensemble). Outside of academia, Clark was also an accomplished performer, first with Your Father’s Mustache Band in Denver, and later with the Queen City Jazz Band.

That winter of 1974, some of Clark’s students suggested they organize a tuba caroling party. The party proved a resounding success, prompting Clark to stage a formal tuba holiday concert the following year, in December 1975. That concert – originally known as the Annual Tuba Caroling Concert for its first ten years – took place in Larimer Square, and a Denver holiday tradition had been born.

Almost exactly concurrent with Clark’s Denver tuba Christmas concert, another Tuba Christmas was being born. The year was also 1974, and Harvey Phillips – an accomplished tuba soloist and Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Music at Indiana University – conceived of TubaChristmas as a way to pay tribute to his late teacher, William Bell, who was born on Christmas day, 1902. 

Bell was perhaps America’s most esteemed tuba player and teacher throughout the first half of the 20th 
century, having played with the band of John Philip Sousa, as well as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, NBC Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.

Click images to see full pictures of TubaChristmas in Denver

The first TubaChristmas took place on Sunday, Dec. 22, 1974, at the Rockefeller Plaza ice rink in New York. Since then, Tuba Christmas has grown enormously, to include events throughout the country and the world. New York State has nine. California has twelve. And Clark’s became Colorado’s first and Denver’s only.

The event always takes place outside (twice in its early years the event moved indoors, but it promptly returned to the open air), regardless of weather conditions. Some years, the players are blessed with sunny skies and warm weather. In other years, it’s bitterly cold, snow is falling, and the tubas can barely play. The weather has a lot to do with how many tubas and euphoniums show up to play – a good year may feature an astounding 350 or more.  The players range in age from 8 to 88, and come from all sorts of tuba backgrounds:  professionals, high school students and even families.

They are all united, however, by their tubas. 

“We build an incredible camaraderie by having this one place, one time each year where all the tuba players can meet and be in one another’s company,” Clark says. “Usually, we sit in the back of the orchestra and play a supporting role. Now, we get to blow our own horns, so to speak. To play the melody, and be the center of attention. It’s nice to have a chance to step forward and show people how beautiful a tuba can sound.” 

Don’t miss the chance to see TubaChristmas for yourself.  Denver’s TubaChristmas will take place on Dec. 14, from 1 p.m.-2 p.m., at Skyline Park at 16th and Arapahoe. The event is free to the public.

Photos courtesy of Bill Clark

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