Happy Honking Holidays: TubaChristmas Comes to SF

If you’re looking for an offbeat, wholesome way to hear some FREE festive holiday honks performed by live tuba players, try TubaChristmas. TubaChristmas can be seen twice this holiday season in San Francisco: 2pm Sunday December 10th at Noe Valley Town Square and 4pm Saturday, December 16th at El Rio. It’s the happy holiday horn tootin’ tradition you didn’t know you’ve been missing.

Nobody takes up the tuba to get the melodies in orchestra or concert band, and tubas rarely get the solo. Tubas are often the butt of musical fart jokes. TubaChristmas changes that. Tubas, Sousaphones, Helicons, Euphoniums, and even Baritone Horn players of all ages and skill are celebrated and welcome to join and be the stars of our own show for one performance a year. What’s a Euphonium? Come to TubaChristmas and find out. We might have the Cal Band Sousaphones holding up the back row again this year.

TubaChristmas San Francisco 2022, photo Courtesy of Lori Karns

When I meet a fellow tuba player in the wild, I get giddy. We’re something of a rare breed, and we have no defining characteristics if our instrument is not within reach. You can imagine a collective giddiness when a gaggle of tubists gather to play Christmas carols in a public forum. We’re as awkward as our instruments with hearts as big as our horns.

TubaChristmas San Francisco 2022, photo Courtesy of Bryan Kiechle

A Brief History of TubaChristmas

TubaChristmas started in 1974, when Harvey Phillips presented a birthday present for his mentor, William Bell, who was born on Christmas Day, 1902. The first TubaChristmas was performed at Rockefeller Center Ice Rink in New York City with over 300 tubists. 2023 marks the 50th year of TubaChristmas.

The annual free event has gathered steam over the years, with coordinators and conductors in cities across the country signing up to feature the beloved low brass players of their local region. Performers in attendance range from quartets to several hundred tubists (can you imagine!?), and they all play from the same official TubaChristmas carol playbook. Four years ago, Kansas City set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of tuba players – with 835 players under one roof!

How to see TubaChristmas in SF

This year, TubaChristmas will spread its tuba-tootin’ magic in 284 towns/cities across the US (and four international!) in high schools, shopping malls, town squares, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and Rockefeller Center under the giant iconic Christmas Tree in NYC.
For those in the South Bay, San Jose TubaChristmas will perform Saturday, December 9th, 2023 6:00pm at Santana Row.
In San Francisco, Noe Valley Town Square will be hosting TubaChristmas at 2pm on Sunday, December 10th. There will be a family-friendly Hanukkah celebration following  at 4pm. HOT TIP: bring a folding chair and a mug of warm drink. Here is the TubaChristmas San Francisco event on FB – invite your friends!

Tuba Christmas just booked a second gig on Saturday, 12/16, 4pm at El Rio in San Francisco. Needless to say, this event (performers and audience) is 21+. 

Lori Karns is the local volunteer TubaChristmas coordinator for San Francisco. She has played in TubaChristmas in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago before moving to “a little pocket of tuba excellence in the Bernal Heights neighborhood” in SF in 2019.  In 2021, she unofficially played a TubaChristmas concert with three other neighborhood tubists in her garage. In 2022, TubaChristmas SF was official with the national TubaChristmas organization after a 15-year hiatus. Last year there were ~30 performers, and this year, Lori is expecting close to 50. 

One of the best parts of TubaChristmas is its inclusivity – players of all skill levels range from age 10 to 80+. Some members have been playing TubaChristmas annually for decades. Some members have their parents register for them. The magic lies in getting elders and youngsters and everyone in between to play together from the same playbook.

Photo courtesy of @visitlanccity on Instagram

TubaChristmas is a community (and volunteer-driven organization). If you or someone you know plays the tuba/euphonium/baritone and would be interested in joining TubaChristmas, it’s not too late! Register here or the QR code below. Day-of registration is also ok!