The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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November 29, 2008

TubaChristmas

Small band spreads the Christmas cheer

By Amelia A. Pridemore

Only eight players showed up for TubaChristmas in Beckley — but the band played on.

Tamarack hosted Tuba-Christmas Saturday afternoon at the Gov. Hulett C. Smith Theater. The concert featuring a band totally composed of tubas and euphoniums playing Christmas music was free.

TubaChristmas is both a local and national event. Nationwide, 164 tuba bands will play during the holiday season, according to Tamarack. Three other West Virginia cities, Charleston, Harpers Ferry and Huntington, also host this type of concert.

TubaChristmas was conceived in 1974 as a tribute to the late artist/teacher William J. Bell. Bell was born Christmas Day 1902. The first TubaChristmas took place at New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza ice rink in 1974.

Mark Shrader, Beckley TubaChristmas coordinator and band director for Oak Hill High School, said only eight tuba and euphonium players came to the show Saturday. Nevertheless, it did not stop both Shrader and the small band from working to put together a Christmas concert in just a few hours’ time.

“If it would have been just one player and me, it would have happened,” he said. “There have been as many as 1,200 players in New York and as little as two at other locations. Everyone’s attitude has been very good, and the players are very, very cooperative.”

Shrader believed the concert being on the last weekend of many students’ Thanksgiving break probably contributed to the low turnout.

However, the small band had a diverse makeup. The band was composed of people between 15 and 70 years old, Shrader said. It included high school students from Summers, Fayette, Raleigh and Mercer counties, plus professors from Appalachian State University and people from Boone, N.C., who have come in the past.

He noted all players and coordinators for TubaChristmas are “totally volunteer,” and any TubaChristmas is a challenge because rehearsals begin just a few hours before the concert.

“It’s very challenging because there’s a short time to put this together,” he said. “Although the music is familiar, this is an arrangement just for low brass. A tuba could have the melody and a baritone could have the counter-melody.

“A lot of times you’ll see tubas and euphoniums described as background instruments, even in catalogs. But here, tubas and euphoniums are put anywhere but the back. They’re at the forefront. The melody may go to the lowest tuba or the highest baritone. It’s a lot of fun.”

Sally and Tom Lemke of Daniels came out to TubaChristmas. Sally Lemke said she, her husband and some of their neighbors are regulars at Tamarack music performances.

“They’re excellent and most of them are free,” she said. “You can’t beat that.”

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com



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