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From The Beacon, Acton, MA:

By Brad Petrishen
GateHouse News Service
Thu Jun 21, 2007, 02:10 PM EDT

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[quote]Boxborough - They came on a mission — to set a Guinness World Record for the largest tuba ensemble.

And although the group of young and old musicians of all skill levels fell 37 players shy of its goal, they still set another record: the largest tuba ensemble to ever perform at Fifer’s Day in Boxborough.

“We thought we would break the record, but at the end of the day it’s all about Fifer’s Day,â€

wow thats intense

Funny thing is, the TC's in Akron and Kansas City each get upwards of 600 every year. Akron, I think, has reached 700. Sounds like Tucker needs to get the Guinness people involved (hey, serving some Black and Tans would probably take it over 1,000!)

I played at the Boxborough event. My impression was that everyone had a great time -- I certainly did. The organizers in Boxborough had everything set up perfectly, and showed great hospitality to the tubists! By the way, the stand selling tuba-related things was Mike Milnarik's TubaStudio.com.

I'd also like to say that James O'Dell was about the easiest conductor to follow -- what great conducting chops.

The TubaChristmas people have learned about this Guiness Records stuff. I expect that the next TubaChristmas in New York City will be an official record-setter.

Cheers,
Allen

Allen wrote: I'd also like to say that James O'Dell was about the easiest conductor to follow -- what great conducting chops.

Agreed. While living in Boston, I had the privilege to play under Jim's direction several times. The apparent relaxation and ease in his baton style made everything a breeze. The fact that his height is pushing seven feet and his hands are the size of dinner plates might have something to do with visibility too.

I once sent a letter to the Guinness people about TubaChristmas a few years ago and I never heard anything back. Oh, well...

can you imagine if all us tubenetters got together and just played one note. The ground would shake

eupher61 wrote:Funny thing is, the TC's in Akron and Kansas City each get upwards of 600 every year. Akron, I think, has reached 700. Sounds like Tucker needs to get the Guinness people involved (hey, serving some Black and Tans would probably take it over 1,000!)

I know the last time I played Akron's TubaChristmas the number was well over 400.

Wow. Jim O'Dell was the tuba player in my college band in Ashland, OR.