Harvey Phillips

[Alex C]

I just received word that Harvey Phillips has passed away last night/today (Oct. 20, 2010).

Please do not call the Phillips family at this time.

[Kutz]

Sad news indeed. A true artist and gentleman. He really helped make what we do a reality. Rest in peace.
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/6906.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

[bort]

I just received word that Harvey Phillips has passed away last night/today (Oct. 20, 2010).

That is tremendously sad, and this has seriously stopped me in my tracks and I barely knew the man.

Thank you Harvey.

[GC]

Sad indeed. All of us here owe him a lot for the respect he brought to the instrument and for the opportunities that he created for us.

[Steve Oberheu]

A true giant of our world has left us. Thank you Mr. Phillips for all you did!!

[tubatom91]

I'm happy to have met him and talked to him the few times that I did, he was at the forefront of promoting our instruments and showing that we play more than oom-pah's, an innovator to say the least. Sad news to hear.

[Carroll]

I was privileged (through my association with R. Winston Morris) to meet and speak with Mr. Phillips numerous times over the past thirty years. Even with his declining health, he was always positive and a consummate gentleman. Men of his ilk only come along once in a generation. He will be missed, even by those who never met him personally.

Rest in Peace, Harvey.

[J.c. Sherman]

Thank you for bringing us up from the back row, Harvey. Rest in Peace.

J.c.S.

[skeath]

An immeasurable loss to the tuba world. Harvey arguably had a greater impact on both public acceptance and the legitimization of the tuba than any single human, including (as I bite my tongue) William Bell.

In 1974, I auditioned at both Indiana and Eastman the same week (for DMA study). Harvey assigned two students to pick me up at the airport in Indianapolis, take me (and tuba) to Bloomington, wait for me, then take me back to the airport. My plane was an hour late due to weather, but they were told to not come back without me. They waited.

Harvey took me out to lunch in his huge finned Cadillac. He parked in a hurry in downtown Bloomington, leaving the car with one wheel on the sidewalk. No one said anything.

He was a great guy. Other factors led me to Eastman, but I always regretted not being able to study with him.

RIP, Harvey.

Sandy Keathley

[TubaNerd88]

Even though I have never met him in real life, he was a huge inspiration to us tuba players and was truly a giant in the tuba world. He will be missed dearly. May he Rest In Peace.

[TYA]

Reading these things make me so sad. I never Knew Mr. Harvey Phillips but I knew of him. I was inspired by his recording of Vincent Persichetti Serenade No.12 for solo Tuba and I am forever thankful for everything he has done. May he rest in peace.

[P8822]

Indeed very sad news. I owe him and the family much for the continued music career I enjoy. My thoughts are with Carol, Jesse, Harvey Jr. and Tom during this difficult time.

I also echo Jim's (snorlax) comments -- let us please let the family have privacy. More information will be provided via this website and other news agencies.

May Harvey rest in Peace -- Heaven's orchestra will make room for another icon of our noble instrument.

Paul Weikle

[BopEuph]

I remember the last time I saw him, was at the Potomac Competition (I guess in 2003?). Mr. Phillips, a few other euphers, and myself, were sharing the elevator up the gala. He stressed his disappointment with us...for not bringing our cases to stuff them with food when nobody was looking! Then he reminisced about how he used to do that when he was our age.

Nick

[Ken Herrick]

This is such sad news. Harvey was surely one of the great musicians of our age as well as a true and kind gentleman who's only fault would have been his generosity. I've lost one of the very best friends I ever had. You'll never be forgotten, Harvey.

[uncle jerd]

I am quite sure that right now Harvey, Jake, and Mr. B are having a couple of cold pitchers and catching up at Berghoff's in the great beyond.

Rest in Peace Harvey--you were the greatest and we will sure miss you.

Ken Riddle

[jonesbrass]

We'll miss you, Harvey. See you on the other side.

[Tubadork]

When I met Harvey Phillips in 1992, he played this on a recital.
He told us when he played in the circus that when a trapeze artist would fall and get hurt, they would send in the clowns to distract the audience so that they could treat the wounded performer. When the performer was on the ground and he heard the clowns come in he knew he was going to be ok. He dedicated it to a fallen circus performer and his teacher Bill Bell and now I'm posting this for Harvey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJvUCDP9u0I" target="_blank" target="_blank

Bill

[WoodSheddin]

Shortly after I married my wife we moved to Bloomington so she could finish her degree. Fresh out of college and needing to pay college loans while she continued in school I took my first job in the IT field answering phones for IU on their tech support team. My immediate supervisor on the PC team was also a tubist. He had studied with Harvey Phillips but never reached the level to secure a playing gig so he worked tech. Through some conversations he let me know that he studied with Harvey and that perhaps he could arrange a meeting sometime. Well, he called Carol and it was arranged that we would go down there and help him out with getting their PC working over dialup for internet access.

We went to their home and the Phillips insisted on having us for dinner. I forget now exactly what we ate but I do remember that they were amazing cooks and even better hosts. I can still picture them both in the kitchen demonstrating how they like to clean the dishes as they go along while cooking. They were a team.

I went down to the office to work on the PC. While I toiled away Harvey played some of his good stuff in the background.

Now, I will be honest. I had heard him in recent years. Recent then was mid 1990s. And he was not in his prime to be sure. I had also heard some recordings of him in the music library from live stuff he did in the later years of his teaching career. And again I was not to sure of the legendary playing reputation I had heard so much about.

Let me set something straight right now. What Harvey played for me while I worked on his computer was him playing from a while ago when he was younger and in his prime. It was simply breathtaking in it's beauty. His sense of music making was a benchmark I have rarely heard since. The voice of a diva singing through his bell. It is little wonder composers were so willing to write for him.

It wasn't just his ability to play either. He could be very persuasive. A true salesman. He knew how to close the deal.

Harvey Phillips was among the greatest tubists and musical pedagogues in the history of the tuba. He advanced the instrument from a logistical standpoint like no other before or since. From new compositions to one of the early founders of the brass quintet to bringing dignity to an instrument which was little more than a buffoon before.

Through his office at the School of Music in Bloomington, IN USA came a whose who of the greatest talents produced during the later half of the 20th century.

Harvey Phillips is a legend up there with Arnold Jacobs, William Bell, August Helleberg, Tommy Johnson, and Roger Bobo.

Harvey Phillips has affected the lives of every single tubist in America if not the world through his tireless efforts to promote his chosen voice.

He has now left us. But the wake he left behind him is massive.

[Dean E]

I heard Harvey speak at a US Army Tuba Euphonium Conference, and have chatted briefly with him at TubaChristmases in DC and NYC. He was always cordial and focused on teaching and getting the best from young tuba players. Here's a photo from NYC's 2006 TubaChristmas where Harvey is in front of the massed tubas. His spirit will live on.

TC-NYC-2006-9.jpg

[Art Hovey]

I can't say that I ever did anything to earn his respect, but he never failed to give it to me over the past 50 years. I only ran into him occasionally, but he always knew my name, greeted me warmly and gave me all kinds of encouragement. What a role model for all of us!