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What has been your number 1 all time favorite concert to play in?

Mine has to be Enigma Variations with Simon Rattle.

He made the orchestra listen and feel like a chamber group and also wanted lot's of tuba sound!

Mahler 9 at Kresge Auditorium MIT Summer Philharmonic

Several concerts stand out. Singing in the chorus in Beethoven's 9th is one. My first concert with the Texarkana Symphony is another. Corigliano conducting his own 1st symphony is another. This was my first experience on CC tuba and there is a tuba solo in it.

I have no doubt of my very favorite was though...Dr. W. Francis McBeth conducting the University of Arkansas in a concert of his compositions. The rehearsals were great. I am absolutely spellbound every time this man speaks. He is kind, funny, engaging, and brilliant. This was the only event I can remember in which the low brass was required to "give it all we had". My head was spinning at times from having taken in so much oxygen. It was an awesome adrenaline rush.

Of course, I believe my best concert experience ever is still in front of me!

The 1812 finale, as solo tuba, in May 2008 at the National Shrine in Washington, DC. The Willson 3050 RZ CC, was, in my humble opinion, up to the acoustics of the Shrine.

It was like the first time I got to open up the throttle on the Autobahn.

Dean E wrote:An unforgettable, personal, peak experience for this amateur was performing the finale of the 1812 last year with my Willson 3050RZ CC (a 5/4 contrabass) at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C., the eighth largest religious structure in the world. Priceless.

It's really tough to try to write about it in words!

My best ever was when my community band went to Austria for a tour to play a few concerts. The one I won't forget was a joint concert with the Swarovski Musik Wattens band. We each played our shows, and at the end, played Stars & Stripes Forever, together as a mass ensemble. I was the only American tuba player, paired with 7 (great!) Austrian players. Huge sound, huge enthusiasm, and it seemed like the whole town was there to watch and listen.

Though none of us spoke a common language, it was really cool to be joined my the music. Oh, and there was free bier afterwards, too. I left that night thinking "man, this is what it's all about!"

One of 2 brass band concerts. One was with 2 choirs and an organ on several songs; we also played the whole Enigma Variations. The other concert had me as the only Eb tuba- We played Festival Overture, Academic Festival Overture, Light Cavalry,..... Fun!

McCoy Tyner and Oscar Peterson sharing the bill, and rhythm section, at SPAC during summer of 1977. Tyner opened and really stretched the audiences ears and Peterson had the 2nd half where he proceeded to shred the piano. Amazing concert on a wonderful summer night.

Bort took the words out of my mouth, except my community band went to Ukraine, an 18 year old Ukrainian music school student and I were the only tuba players, and it was vodka, not bier afterwards. Our bands, too, played separately and then together, ending with Stars and Stripes. The hall was packed and the audience was very enthusiastic (snapped their fingers or clapped their hands during most of the selections!). The whole experience was amazing.

Mike

Hey Mike, that's great to hear you had the same experience! I felt even luckier to have been so young when the opportunity came around!

My most memorable concert to date has to be when our community band (Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches) performed "Light Cavalry Overture" (Franz Von Suppe) and "Victory at Sea" (Richard Rodgers & Robert Russell Bennett) with guest conductor Loras Schissel. Mr Schissel is a fine conductor and got the band to perform at it's best.

In college, getting to perform the west coast premier of Armenian Dances II with Alfred Reed conducting.

Definately my first public concerto--Vaughan Williams concerto mvts. 1 and 2 (don't know why i didn't do three....)

great night, very kind crowd. unforgettable.

concert was me, a violin player, and the HS band doing Adagio for Strings

I played a Death & Transfiguration, under Dennis Russell Davies, that made me cry. MAN, what an experience!

As a freshman in college in 1970, I was in the chorus in the Atlanta Symphony performance of the Berlioz Requiem under Robert Shaw. Large chorus, full orchestra, 4 brass groups (extra players from Georgia State University when their brass program was one of the nation's very best), and a ton of extra percussion, all under the baton of one of the greatest choral conductors who ever lived.

bearphonium wrote:In college, getting to perform the west coast premier of Armenian Dances II with Alfred Reed conducting.

UMMM..Jealous!

Les Preludes with the Interlochen World Youth Symphony Orchestra in the final concert of the summer in "The Bowl." I got to do this twice, but I think the last time (summer of '85) was a bit more special since I knew it would be the last time.

Anyone who has done this will get it.

The city I live near to used to have a regional 4th of July celebration in a large field next to the regional airport, with different acts taking the stage throughout the afternoon, culminating with the regional orchestra and fireworks in the evening. It was big. No, not a million people like on the Mall in DC, but at least 50 to 60,000 people or more every year. No, I was not in the orchestra. I had a gig that was more fun earlier in the day. One of the bands I played in at the time had connections and we got one of the slots. After a couple of acoustic acts and a stand up, it was our turn, and as a change from all that mellowness in the early afternoon, we rocked. The first thing that all those 50-60,000 + people heard out of me (Yeah, the rest of the guys in the band were CSN fans, and couldn't pass it up) was the opening bass riff to "Suite Judy Blue Eyes." Since we had played together for a couple of years at that point, we weren't quite scared shitless, but to be up there cranking out to a sea of people that literally stretched to the horizon was quite a trip. No, all those folks didn't come specifically to see me or the band I was in at the time. But when we started playing they didn't leave, walk out to the porta-johnnys, boo, or throw things at the stage, either!

A couple of years later another band I was in was in a "battle of the bands" at a local spot that was a pretty good sized indoor venue. To do something completely different, just before we hit the stage we had the place turn out as many lights and background noise as possible, no background music, nothing. We tuned up in silence on tuners, and sent one of our sound/light guys up to the house console to help the house tech throw absolutely everything on at the moment we hit the first chord of our opening with "Comfortably Numb." Timing was perfect. It was a veritable sonic and visual explosion on stage from full off to immediate everything full on sound and lights. When we hit the second chord after the bass drum riff and the guitar slide up to the vocals and the crowd realized what we were playing, everyone in the house screamed and applauded so loudly we couldn't hear ourselves on stage. For the next while I had to keep time by watching our drummer, as I was standing right next to him but literally couldn't hear him for the crowd screaming and applauding.

Then there was the college choir trip in London where we sang a version of the 23rd psalm on the steps up to the chancel at the crossing of the transepts in St Pauls. At the climax the entire choir hit a high clashing chord forte on the first syllable "Eh-," then had an entire choir glissando of that chord down an octave to piano on the second syllable, "li,"with fermata. The dome caught the high soprano note and held on, while the gliss started cascading back at us from each of the arches and side chapels. That was 30 years ago, and the hairs on the back of my neck still stand up thinking about it.

I've had many but two stand out....

First, playing with Leslie Condon playing next to me when I was about 14 - me on EEb, him on BBb, brass band of course. He was a terrific tuba player with the International Staff Band, and I was completely intimidated.

Second, backing up Cliff Richards, England's "Elvis" at a concert in Norwich Cathedral. He was about 3 hours late, and the crowd did the slow clap "get outta here" thing while we played. It was great!

I have played in so many great concerts over the years that it is difficult to pick out one as 'best ever' - but I will say it was playing Mahler 6 with my regular orchestra, Salisbury Symphony Orchestra 3 years ago. That symphony is my number one favourite with its rewarding and solistic tuba part - and on that performance everything went just right!