TubaChristmas!

TubaChristmas will be held in the Trinity United Methodist Church on Bridge St. in Colebrook—which allows for a large amount of seating space. While admission is free, there will be a freewill donation box at the door to benefit the GNWCA. It is not known how many tuba players will be on hand until that day, but in years past there have been upwards of 21 or more taking part. This year’s conductor will be Andrew Tobin of Lancaster.Some 200-plus people attend this show; it is recommended to arrive early for good seating.

Tuba players come from all over the northeast, which includes the New England states plus Canada, to take part in the Colebrook event—which is one of several TubaChristmas  concerts in New Hampshire this year. For a list of shows taking place around the world, visit tubachristmas.com. This is the 52nd year of TubaChristmas, which was conceived in 1974 by Harvey Phillips as a tribute to his teacher and mentor, William J. Bell, who was born on Christmas Day 1902. The first TubaChristmas was conducted by Paul Lavalle in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink on Sunday, Dec. 22, 1974. Traditional Christmas music performed at the first TubaChristmas was arranged by American composer Alec Wilder, who ironically died on Christmas Eve 1980. Wilder composed many solo and ensemble compositions for tuba and euphonium. He was a loyal supporter of every effort to improve the literature and public image of the instruments.

Calex Environmental (owned by Colebrook resident Ron Guerin) is sponsoring the TubaChristmas players for the Colebrook show. TubaChristmas is an organized, non-profit organization and performers are required to pay a small fee in order to participate. The sponsorship of Calex Environmental takes care of that fee for them.