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Season begins with low notes
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Hubbard Senior Jeff Yocum (17) plays a concert tuba for Tuba Christmas in the main concourse of Eastwood Mall in Niles.
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Ted O'Connor (84) of Youngstown is the eldest tuba player at Tuba Christmas in the main concourse of Eastwood Mall in Niles, Saturday.
By Elise Franco
The Tuba Christmas coordinator said the program’s expansion is cause for a larger venue next year.
NILES — Every year, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, tuba players from the Mahoning Valley and all over Ohio gather in one place to get the Christmas season started off right.
This year was no exception.
On Saturday, 91 tuba players, some from as far away as Columbus, came decked out in red and green for the 10th annual Tuba Christmas in Eastwood Mall’s main concourse.
The performance, patterned after the first of its kind, in 1974 at New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza ice rink, was started in Niles after the program’s local coordinator, Theresa Kirkland, took her daughter to see Tuba Christmas in Akron.
“I knew that this was something special,” she said. “I was inspired to bring this event to the Mahoning Valley.”
Kirkland, of Newton Falls, said the performance in Akron was exactly the type of family function the Mahoning Valley needed more of.
“The area has been very supportive of it,” she said. “And the players are all just so excited.”
All across the country, tuba players of all ages are participating in Tuba Christmas concerts.
Wes O’Connor, program conductor and director of bands at Austintown Fitch High School, said that annually, more that 200 performances happen all over the country, with 15 in Ohio.
“This is a chance for tuba players to show off what these instruments can do,” he said. “This is the most playing many of these people have done in their lives.”
O’Connor said several different instruments, all within the tuba family, are a part of the concert.
Baritone horns, euphoniums, three-quarter-sized tubas, four-quarter tubas and sousaphones adorned with lights, garland and other Christmas decorations played classic carols such as “Jingle Bells,” “Deck the Halls” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.”
O’Connor said he’s conducted children as young as 8 and adults who are in their 80s.
“Tuba players are people from all walks of life,” he said.
O’Connor said he continues to be a part of Tuba Christmas in Niles because of what it means to the performers.
“None of us get paid to do this, and we wouldn’t dream of asking for money,” he said. “For some of the people, this is their gig, their enjoyment in life. I enjoy conducting for them.”
Kirkland said the morning of the concert is when the performers play together for the first time.
“They just come here and register, and then they get one rehearsal,” she said.
Kirkland said each player pays a registration fee of $5, which goes to the Harvey Phillips Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit dedicated to developing, expanding, and preserving the music arts. The New York Foundation focuses special attention on musical instruments not ordinarily the object of other support.
Kirkland said this year’s 91 performers are the largest group the program has seen, and she hopes to expand into a larger venue next year.
“We’ve always been here,” she said, but we’d really like to see the event grow,” she said.
Kirkland said ideally, she’d like to put together bus trips for those who come from out of town to see the concert.
“We want to make it a destination for the day,” she said. “People can come and shop, see a show, have lunch and stay overnight if they want to.”
Kirkland said this year’s performance was a milestone, not only because it was the 10th anniversary of Tuba Christmas in Niles, but also because Tucker Jolly, founder of Akron’s Tuba Christmas, was guest conductor.
Jolly said he’s been conducting Tuba Christmas in Akron since 1980.
“This is my first time playing in a Tuba Christmas performance,” he said. “And it’s my first time conducting one anywhere but Akron.”
Between 500 and 600 tuba players are expected to perform in Akron this year.
Jolly said Tuba Christmas in Akron will be on Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 198 Hill St., at the University of Akron.
efranco@vindy.com