150 tubas converge in downtown Portland for 30th annual Tuba Christmas

The 30th annual Tuba Christmas concert at Pioneer Courthouse Square sent low-pitched holiday cheer throughout downtown Portland last Saturday afternoon.

The event typically draws 300 tuba players who perform in the free public concert, but after canceling the performance in 2020, this year’s event, due to COVID, was capped at 150 players.

Even with half as many tubas – and a steady rain – a crowd gathered at the Square for Christmas carols played entirely in lower octaves. The tubas performed under cover of a large tent, but bystanders made do with rain coats, umbrellas and tarps.

Tuba Christmas is a beloved tradition for area tuba players, who get the rare chance to take center stage.

“Tubas play harmony or oompah,” said conductor Chuck Bolton. “At Tuba Christmas, these kids who come from high schools and adults, they get to play the melody. Tubas don’t play melody, and that’s one of the reasons why it’s so popular.”

“Oompah,” as Bolton describes it, is the alternating bass beat of a polka or a march, the stereotypical sound one might associate with a tuba.

But tubas are much more than that. There are all shapes and sizes in the tuba family, from the massive sousaphones seen in marching bands, to the smaller euphonium or baritone horn. Sometimes antique horns will show up, like circular helicons or the Civil War-era over-the-shoulder tuba that Bolton brought out for a special demonstration.

“Anyone can come with a lower, valved, brass instrument,” Bolton said. “But we don’t allow trombones, they have their own Christmas.”

Tuba Christmases are held around the world. The tradition started in 1974 as a way to honor William Bell, a renowned tuba player with the New York Philharmonic who was born on Christmas Day, 1902.

“Bill Bell is the ‘Father of the Tuba,’ and he’s given the credit for taking it from being an oompha to being a solo instrument,” Bolton said.

When Bell died, his student, Harvey Phillips, wanted to honor him. The first Tuba Christmas was held in New York in 1974. Since then, concerts have cropped up by tuba fans across the globe. The Tuba Christmas website currently lists 239 concerts across the country and some internationally.

Portland’s Tuba Christmas is one of the largest in the country, Bolton said. It was founded 30 years ago by Dr. John Keil Richards, who spent 52 years as the principal tuba player in the Oregon Symphony. After he died in 2011, Bolton took over conducting the event.

Bolton was the band director for 31 years at Gresham’s Sam Barlow High School, then went on to teach music at various local colleges. What’s it like conducting hundreds of tubas?

“Like trying to corral 20 kittens,” Bolton said. “But it’s fun, it really is.”