TubaChristmas seating for audience

[Leland]

Sold out? They sell tickets to these things now?

The few that I've done have been in completely public spaces, or at least there was no admission charge whatsoever.

It's good to see that y'all were drawing over 1200 people, but I was surprised to even read that tickets were sold, and I also expect that a lot of those tickets went to friends & family, which is an easy "audience" to draw anyway.

[chhite]

Might it have been the tickets were a measure to control the size of the audience in a specific venue for safety concerns(eg. hall limitations, fire marshall concerns)? It also may have been a way to guage audience without counting the people that went through the door. Most of the concerts I play are free to the public but they must have a ticket for a seat. This alleviates a rush at the door and guarantees the patron a seat, albeit a "general admission" style. The patron just contacts a sponsor and picks up their ticket and no money changes hands. Just suggesting a possibility.

[Chuck(G)]

Do any other towns in Oregon, besides Salem and Portland, have TubaChristmas concerts?

Medford used to have a TC event, but the grandaddy of the Chrsitrmas-related tuba events in Oregon is in Eugene and it's not a Tubachristmas(TM). Rather, it's the Oregon Tuba Association's (bet you didn't even know there was such a group) Annual Tuba Carol Concert. This was number XXVI (or XXVII, depending on whom you ask) for us and it was held on the first Saturday of December.

We use "Carols for Low Brass" written especially for OTA by David Grosvenor. IMOHO, much better than the TC arrangements.

You can check up on the one just done on the OTA website:

http://www.oregontuba.org/

The proceeds from this bash (as do the proceeds from all of the Oregon Tuba Ensemble gigs) go toward funding tuba programs and scholarships within the state of Oregon. No Christmastime flash-in-the-pan with-proceeds-going-out-of-state event, but a genuine year-round program proudly supporting local music education.

[Normal]

The Salem Tuba Christmas is held in a great old theatre that is in the process of being renovated to the tune of 3.2 million dollars. All of the money used for this renovation is from donations and proceeds. The ticket proceeds ($2.00 per person) for TC are shared between the theatre and the local concert band. Each one of the tuba players can get 1 or 2 "free" tickets if they want them to cover part of the family. The tickets are as much to control the size of the audience as anything else. We usually fill the theatre and the lobby which holds another 80 or so, and still have people standing outside to hear what they can.

Its great being able to play TC indoors in a facility made for playing music. The audience can hear the music and enjoy the surroundings. As a player it's nice to play to a packed house that is very responsive. Take a look at the facility I have been "forced" to play in for the last eight years

http://www.elsinoretheatre.com/about/photos.html

Piglet, if you have any suggestions about this event, contact the Salem Concert Band. They'd love to hear from you. They're always looking to improve. I am going to send them some of the things I've gleened from Tubenet like splitting up the group of players. We had 140 this year. That can be split into multiple groups. Not sure how we'd split our 83 year-old director, John Richards.

BTW - I'm not connected with either the theatre or the Salem Concert Band although I know some of their Board Members.