Sixty local tuba and euphonium players will perform a program of Christmas
music at Northgate Mall, December 7th at 1:00. This annual event will again
be under the baton of William R. Lee, Professor of Music at the University
of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The event is sponsored by the Tuba-Euphonium
Ensemble of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Northgate Mall, and
the Harvey Phillips Foundation.
The Tubachristmas concert is one of more than 200 being held across the
United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia. The concerts feature local
tubists and euphoniumists--from middle school to professionals--in public
performance of Christmas carols and mass tuba pieces especially arranged
for the event. Tubachristmasses have been held since 1974. This is the
thirtieth year.
Tubachristmas concerts were first conceived to pay tribute to the memory
of William J. Bell, born Christmas Day 1902, one of the world's greatest
tubists. The concerts were the brainchild of Harvey Phillips, Distinguished
Professor of Music at Indiana University. Phillips conducts the annual
Tubachristmas concert at Rockefeller Center in New York which involves 500
tuba and euphonium players and is covered by national TV.
The event in 2001 was performed by more than sixty tuba and euphonium
players from the Chattanooga area and from as far away as Atlanta and
Memphis. The event was covered by local TV channels and enjoyed by a crowd
of more than 500 people. Chattanooga has one of the largest Tubachristmases
in the country per local population.
The massed performance at Northgate will be preceded by a program by the
UTC Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble. The UTC Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble was founded in
1985 by Dr. Lee. The ensemble consists of students majoring in music who
specialize in tuba and euphonium or university students who major in other
areas but who are tuba or euphonium enthusiasts. The group plays a wide
variety of works, from jazz to klezmer, from Sousa to Gabrieli. Last year
the group entertained at Disney World, the first low brass ensemble to do
so, and next spring the ensemble will tour Paris, France, performing at
American and French institutions there. Many area performers and high
school music teachers have been members of the group.
Dr. Lee is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Music Education at UTC.
A specialist in the teaching of music teachers, he has published music for
wind instruments and is a researcher in the field of music education. He is
on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education and
has published in most of the periodicals in his field. Recently he has
published mass tuba and euphonium works with Tuba Press and with Cimmaron
Press, Inc.
Tubists, euphonium, and baritone players who wish to participate in the
performance will meet at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga band
room in the Fine Arts Building at 8:30 on Saturday, December 7th. There is
a small registration fee and a charge for music.
Persons wanting more information should call the UTC Music Department at
425-4601 or email Dr. Lee at [log in to unmask]
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