Huntington Musicians Play at
NYC Tuba Christmas
Four skilled Huntington School District musicians and several faculty and staff members trekked into Manhattan and participated in the 42nd annual Merry Tuba Christmas extravaganza at Rockefeller Center last Sunday.
J. Taylor Finley Middle School eighth graders Lucy Biblow, James Obermaier and Cole Pillion and Huntington High School freshman Chris Engle along with district music teachers Frank Battista and Jessica Castaneda and Blue Devil marching band color guard instructor Jessica Torres were among more than 500 musicians from across the country to perform in Manhattan last weekend. Similar events were held in more than 200 cities around the world.
Performers ranged in age from nine years old to 87. The musicians brought along their sousaphones, tubas, euphoniums and baritones and played Christmas carols in the Rockefeller Center ice rink below the tree in the plaza.
Each year the ensemble rehearses in the parking garage below Rockefeller center from 12:30 till 2:30. Then all of the musicians file up the stairs and line up on the rink. A crowd numbering in the thousands surrounded the rink from above last Sunday.
The Huntington students were interviewed by Brooklyn News 1, “which was really exciting for them,” said Mr. Battista, who is a longtime Finley music teacher. “Musicians traveled from as far away as Florida and Texas for the event.”
Tuba Christmas concerts and events are festively celebrated throughout the world. The initiative was created in 1974 by Harvey Phillips as a tribute to his teacher-mentor William J. Bell, according to the Tuba Christmas website.
The Huntington musicians gathered with fellow enthusiasts for a rehearsal and performance at the Rockefeller Center ice rink located at 49th and 50th Streets between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Chris Wilhjelm, former conductor of the famed Goldman Memorial Band, led the skilled group.