ISSUED: 1 November 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Hans Fogle
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University will serve as a host site for the 51st TUBACHRISTMAS this year.
Sites around the world host free TUBACHRISTMAS concerts that celebrate everyone who plays, teaches, and composes music for instruments in the tuba family, including the tuba, sousaphone, baritone, and euphonium.
The Shepherd University TUBACHRISTMAS concert takes place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, in front of McMurran Hall at the corner of German and King Streets in Shepherdstown.
All are welcome to attend and enjoy the seasonal music, and anyone who can play the tuba is encouraged to join in the concert themselves.
“We’re inviting anyone who plays the tuba or a horn in the tuba family to come out and be part of the show,” said Dr. Scott Hippensteel, Interim Director of the Shepherd University School of Music.
This year, Shepherd specifically invited local high school band students to participate.
“It is so important to give young musicians the chance to play together and perform in public,” Hippensteel said. “We felt like this was a fun, no-pressure way to let them be a part of an ensemble and get valuable experience performing in front of a crowd.”
According to their website, tuba player and music professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, Harvey Phillips created TUBACHRISTMAS in 1974, as a tribute to his teacher and mentor William J. Bell, born on Christmas Day, 1902.
For more information on attending TUBACHRISTMAS or about how to participate in the show, visit www.shepherd.edu/tubachristmas.
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