KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Symphony celebrated its annual TubaChristmas holiday concert Tuesday afternoon on the Crown Center Square.
The nationwide event, which has taken place annually in Kansas City since 1979, brings together over 500 tuba and euphonium players, spanning multiple generations.
The hour-long concert featured performances from performers across the Kansas City area and traditional holiday music like “O Christmas Tree,” “Away in a Manger” and “The First Noel.”
The event is free for spectators, like Gerald Carter, 70, a Kansas City native who has been coming to the TubaChristmas concerts since he was a child.
“I used to play sousaphone through school, and my mom introduced me to this, and we used to come down here every year together,” Carter said. “But she’s 98 years old now, and a little too old to be doing this, but I never got away from it.”
He was one of the hundreds of spectators gathered around the square for the concert, which featured approximately 600 players.
“Where else can you hear 600-plus tuba and baritone players play Christmas carols,” said Stephanie Brimhall, the symphony’s director of education and community engagement who has coordinated the event in Kansas City for the past 14 years.
“Kansas City has one of the largest TubaChristmas events in the country … and the spirit of the performers here is really what sells it,” she said.
The performers ranged from ages nine to 91, comprised old and new players, and came from both Missouri and Kansas.
“It’s a multi-generational thing you can do pretty much as long as you live,” said Dave Holland, one of the performers.
Holland played with he group for the first time in 2015, and since then, he’s been back every year.
“I played football and basketball, and I can’t do that anymore,” he said. “I’m 68, that ain’t gonna happen, but I can blow my horn for a long time.”
For him, it’s the camaraderie that stands out.
“I’ve got a friend who plays Tuba who comes down with us every year,” Holland said. “We don’t ride together, but we see each other, then you run into some other people. I’m from Platte City, I sat with a band from Smithville, and so you’ve got some local connections there.”
Younger performers like Oliver Hernandez, 13, are just now building their connections in the tuba sphere. He’s playing with the band for the first time after watching the concert last year with his family. Like Holland, the camaraderie and “getting to play with people who play the same instrument” has been his favorite part of the experience.
Many audience members’ favorite part, however, was having a chance to hear what hundreds of tubas sounded like.
“I just think it’s really cool,” said Ginger Werp, Hernandez’s mother. “They always say tubas are more of an accompaniment, you know, the one that keeps the beat going, but it’s nice to hear that they make really beautiful sounds.”
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