TubeNet

William (Bill) Rose has been playing the tuba most of his life. Born in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1926, he began playing the tuba while in Junior High, and has played it ever since, except for one year after high school when he studied Aeronautical Engineering at Parks Air College in East St. Louis. With America already deeply involved in W.W. II, in 1944, he entered the U.S. Navy, attended the U.S. Navy School of Music, and played in a forty-five-piece Navy Band at Mare Island, California for the duration of the war. After the war, Mr. Rose attended the Juilliard School of Music and began his studies with the late William J. Bell, who was the foremost tuba player and teacher in America. While studying at Juilliard, Mr. Rose free-lanced with various groups, and played regularly with the Goldman Band, the United Nations Symphony, the C.B.S. Symphony of the Air and other radio shows with C.B.S, and was a charter member of the New York Brass Ensemble.

He left New York City to join the Houston Symphony Orchestra in 1949, and played with this orchestra (including the Houston Grand Opera) until the summer of 1977. Musical Directors of the orchestra were Efrem Kurtz, Leopold Stokowsky, Sir John Barbirolli, Andre Previn, and Lawrence Foster. Seasonal conductors and guest conductors for whom he played included such greats as: Bruno Walter, Pierre Monteau, Charles Munch, Ernest Ansermet, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Erich Leinsdorf, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Milton Katims, Walter Susskind, Arthur Fiedler, William Walton, Igor Stravinsky, Hector Villa-Lobos, and many, many others over the years.

During this same period, he also taught part time at different colleges in the Houston area: the University of Houston, Sam Houston State College, and the Houston Baptist College.

Between playing and teaching, he was well aware of the need for more efficient tuba and euphonium mouthpieces, so he designed and made to his own specifications two tuba mouthpieces and one euphonium mouthpiece. These were put into production by the Mirafone Corporation, and with world-wide distribution the "Rose Model Orchestra," "Rose Model Solo," and the "E56" for euphonium gained tremendous popularity.

It was in 1977 that Mr. Rose was offered a full-time position as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Houston, where he taught tuba, euphonium, and brass chamber music until retiring from full-time teaching in 1989. He continued to teach a few students part-time for a number of years after his retirement.

He was also a founding member of the University of Houston Faculty Symphonic Brass Quintet. His last public performance on the tuba was a recital with the Faculty Symphonic Brass Quintet in 1989.

As a teacher, his students have entered every field of the music profession, which includes band directors, symphony players, free-lance artists, members of service bands, and private teachers.

Mikelynch wrote:He touched the lives of virtually every tuba player in Houston