Article three on The Harvard Tuba!

The third, and final, article on The Harvard Tuba came out in this week's edition. Here's the cover:

This installment is all about the glorious restoration of this amazing instrument, which was completed back in June. Here's the first page of the article:

Article two on The Harvard Tuba!

The second article of three, telling the story of The Harvard Tuba, was published today. Here's the cover of the issue:

This article represents the heart of my research on this historic horn, and I'm thrilled to see it finally published! Here's the beginning of the first page:

Harvard Band's 100th - with tuba!

Last night, the Harvard Band celebrated its 100th anniversary, and in their montage concert featured a work written especially for their newly restored giant tuba - "Caprice for a Great Big Tuba" by Lewis J. Buckley. Performing on the beast was Mike Roylance, principle tubist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The tuba is brought out at 1:01:40, and the performance begins at 1:05:25 - click here to watch it on YouTube.

Here are a few images of the historic performance (taken from the video):

Article one on The Harvard Tuba!

This was just published yesterday - the first of three articles on The Harvard Tuba. This one is a kind of teaser for the topic, with the next two detailing its colorful history and glorious restoration. Fun stuff!

The subtitle above is not exactly correct. The Harvard Tuba is not "the world's largest tuba," but rather the world's largest fully-functional tuba that can be played by one person! But even still, it's a beast!

Here's the title and opening paragraph of the article:

It's the Blue Band time of year again!

A new home for The Harvard Tuba

The 130-year-old giant tuba, known as The Harvard Tuba, has lived in a corner of the Harvard Band room since late 1948. Needless to say, it got banged around!

And when the restoration of this amazing instrument was completed in July, it was temporarily returned to its old corner:

But finally - whew! - a custom-crafted display case has been installed, where this historic horn will live for the next 130 years.

If you're thinking of paying it a visit, know that it is still in the Harvard Band room (after all - they "stole" it fair and square!), but at least now it is protected and presented as the prized possession that it is. Long live this prodigious beauty!

Oh, and just to be clear on how big this horn really is, here's the earliest known photograph of the beast at Harvard - taken sometime between 1948 and 1950. And, I should add, these are the likely suspects of the aforementioned "theft." That story will have to wait until my article on the history of this tuba comes out in a week or two. Stay tuned!