Ms. Cheap’s Penny Drive, Tuba Christmas join forces to help fight hunger in Middle Tennessee – Tennessean

Ms. Cheap’s Penny Drive, Tuba Christmas join forces to help fight hunger in Middle Tennessee  Tennessean

It is so gratifying when two of my favorite things join forces.

And that is happily the case with the annual Merry Tuba Christmas concert and the Ms. Cheap Penny Drive for Second Harvest Food Bank.

The unique, free Tuba Christmas event is Tuesday with two performances at Nashville First Baptist Church. About 100 tuba players perform Christmas carols like “Joy to the World,” “Carol of the Bells,” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” 

The concert has always been free, and in recent years a collection has been taken up after the performances for various charities, including a homeless feeding program at Downtown Presbyterian Church and the last few years for Second Harvest.

When Nashville First senior pastor Frank Lewis suggested this year’s donations go to Second Harvest as part of the Ms. Cheap Penny Drive, I was beyond thrilled.

“This is a community effort that everyone can enjoy. First, where else can you hear about 100 tubas played by musicians ranging from middle school age to mid eighties?” Lewis said.  

“From the first time we hosted Tuba Christmas, we’ve been able to provide the space as a gift. Couple that with the chance to support one of Nashville’s greatest community partners, Second Harvest, and it’s a win-win for everyone,” he said.

Get involved: Help fight hunger with the 11th annual Ms. Cheap Penny Drive for Second Harvest

Tubists and tunes

The players represent all ages and skill levels, including Midstate middle schoolers in their first bands, high school marching band players and accomplished tubists who play and teach at musical institutions like Vanderbilt’s renowned Blair School of Music.

The setlist includes tuba versions of “Joy to the World,” “Away in a Manger,” “Silent Night,” “‘Deck the Halls,” “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” and “First Noel,” each played through once by the tubas and then again for an audience singalong led by Carmen Sanders.

“Jingle Bells” and “Santa Wants a Tuba for Christmas” always get a good audience response.

More holiday fun: Ms. Cheap’s Guide to the Holidays: Free things to do from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve

Who’s behind this tuba-palooza?

Top tubist G.R. Davis, adjunct professor of tuba and euphonium at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, is the key to this Christmas tradition, which has been going on for more than 30 years in various Nashville area locations, including The Mall at Green Hills, Fountain Square, Hickory Hollow Mall, Church Street Centre, Downtown Presbyterian Church and in the Nashville First sanctuary since 2006.

The only rehearsal for a Tuba Christmas concert is just before the performance, and the annual get-together is the only time many of the younger tubists get to play with other tuba players, Davis said.

Davis, 72, who has played the tuba since junior high, says the annual concert is at least partially designed to help the public appreciate the instrument. He says it is nice to see that it can have a charitable component.  

 “I think people who come are in the mood to do something charitable,” Davis said, adding that attendees in recent years have been “very generous.” 

If 100 tubas playing Christmas carols doesn’t stir up some generosity and the holiday spirit in you, I don’t know what would.

Thank you to First Baptist for offering your lovely sanctuary space for the concert. Thank you to the tuba players for sharing your time and talent, and thank you to the audience for your generous donations to help feed hungry neighbors through the Ms. Cheap Penny Drive for Second Harvest.

If you go

The 33rd annual Merry Tuba Christmas is at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Dec. 10 at First Baptist Church, Seventh Avenue South and Broadway. The performances are 45 minutes, and you can just show up. The concerts are free, but volunteers will collect donations for Ms. Cheap’s Penny Drive for Second Harvest Food Bank after. 

Parking is more limited than ever due to construction on and around the church campus. Options include the Music City Center garage, or consider taking a cab, Uber, Lyft or WeGo to the church.

Details: Contact G.R. Davis at 615-714-0247.

Penny Drive

The Ms. Cheap Penny Drive for Second Harvest, now in its 11th year, has raised $580,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. There is plenty of time to join us in this fight against hunger. Every penny really does count. The drive runs through the end of January.

Details: www.secondharvestmidtn.org/pennydrive/

Tuba tidbits

The Tuba was invented around 1840, so there are no tuba parts in the compositions of composers like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. The first composers to write for tuba included Brahms, Wagner and Berlioz.

A bass tuba (lap style) can weigh up to 40 pounds, and a Sousaphone (over the shoulder) can weigh more than 50 pounds.

All tubas are made of solid brass. The gold-colored ones are polished brass with a clear lacquer applied. The silver ones are actually silver-plated, so they must be regularly polished.

The Sousaphone was invented by John Philip Sousa, the “March King,” in response to the need for a powerful instrument that could be easily carried while marching. 

Tubas are sensitive to low temperatures. When a concert is held outdoors on a very cold day, the players sometimes have valves freeze.

A complete list of Tuba Christmas concerts with times and dates may be found at www.tubachristmas.com.

Tuba Christmas was the idea of tubist Harvey Phillips, distinguished professor of music at Indiana University. 

Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282 or mscheap@tennessean.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/mscheap, and at Tennessean.com/mscheap, and on Twitter @Ms_Cheap, and catch her every Thursday at 11 a.m. on WTVF-Channel 5’s “Talk of the Town.”

Published 6:00 AM EST Dec 6, 2019