Dr. Erik Jones, associate professor of music at Shepherd University, will conduct the Shepherdstown TUBACHRISTMAS concert on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 1 p.m. on the steps of McMurran Hall. Dr. Kathleen Corpus, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences and Dr. Keith Alexander, visiting assistant professor of environmental and physical sciences, are coordinators for the event. The concert will last an hour, and any skill level tuba and euphonium players can participate.

TUBACHRISTMAS player registration will begin at 10 a.m. in Reynolds Hall and is $5 to participate, which will include a commemorative pin. TUBACHRISTMAS music will be available for purchase during registration. Rehearsal will follow at 10:30 a.m. Players need to bring their own instrument and music stand. Players are encouraged to decorate their instruments and music stands. In 2011, 26 musicians, from ages 12 to 80 came from West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Ohio, and Texas to participate in the Shepherdstown TUBACHRISTMAS.

TUBACHRISTMAS is a public concert of Christmas carols played on the tuba and euphonium held at different locations throughout the United States. The event was conceived as a tribute to the late teacher and tuba player William J. Bell. The first TUBACHRISTMAS was performed on New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink on Sunday, Dec. 22, 1974. The Harvey Phillips Foundation of Indiana continues the legacy of TUBACHRISTMAS in honor of Bell and Phillips, who was a tuba player and creator of TUBACHRISTMAS.

For more information about Shepherdstown’s TUBACHRISTMAS, contact Corpus at 304-876-5318 or kcorpus@shepherd.edu. For more information about the national TUBACHRISTMAS, visit www.tubachristmas.com.