Tag Archives: Carleton College

Merry Christmas from Vintage Band Festival!

On December 7 we kicked off the holiday season with Tuba Christmas in Northfield, the 5^th year that Vintage Band Festival has presented Tuba Christmas on the campus of Carleton College. The event exceeded our expectations. We welcomed over 600 people in the audience and more than 60 tubists and euphonium musicians to the stage at Skinner Memorial Chapel.

Thanks to Carleton College for sponsoring our event. Thanks to Dr. Paul Niemisto for his conducting and his musical history lessons. And thanks to all those who donated and to our faithful volunteers. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Meet Paul Niemisto, conductor of Tuba Christmas in Northfield

The conductor of Tuba Christmas in Northfield is Dr. Paul Niemisto. Paul is the founder and artistic director of Vintage Band Festival. He recently retired from the Music Department at St. Olaf College, where he taught and conducted for 38 years. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

Niemisto is also the founder of the Ameriikan Poijat (Boys of America), a Finnish American brass ensemble. In addition, he is the founder and conductor of the Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra, a community symphony orchestra based in Northfield, Minnesota that has been delighting regional audiences for over 40 years.

Since 1980, Mr. Niemisto has been traveling regularly to Finland, where he has taught at the Lieksa International Brass week; Klemetti Institute Summer Youth Orchestra Course in Orivesi, Chief Conductor and Conducting Instructor at STM Summer Wind Orchestra Institute at Murikka opisto, and has given courses at many Finnish conservatories, including Kuopio, Tampere, Jyväskylä, and Joensuu. He was a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow in Finland in 1999 and 2017. In February 2000, he was awarded the Finnish Military Music Cross (soltlasmusiikkiristi) for his years of work and research in Finnish bands.

Tuba Christmas in Northfield 2025 will be presented by Vintage Band Festival at 3:00 pm on Saturday, December 7, in Skinner Chapel on the campus of Carleton College.

Tuba Christmas in Northfield 2024

Tuba Christmas in Northfield returns on Saturday, December 7, 2024. This fun event has been presented in many communities of the United States for over 50 years. Low brass instruments playing Christmas carols in harmony provides a listening experience that has no parallel.

The location for Tuba Christmas in Northfield is Skinner Memorial Chapel on the campus of Carleton College. The chapel is on 1^st Street between Winona and College Streets on the east side of town. The rear doors (northside) of the building are accessible via ramped sidewalks. Parking is on city streets in the neighborhood.

Registration for musicians opens at 12:00 pm. There will be a rehearsal at 1:00 pm and a break from 2:00-3:00 pm. The performance begins at 3:00 pm. Registration is $10 for musicians and with that every musician will receive a commemorative pin.

“Carols for a Merry Tuba Christmas” books will be available for purchase for those who don’t own a copy already. There are books for both treble and bass clef readers. Large format books are $25 and small format books are $20. Tuba Christmas apparel will also be available in a variety of colors. Hats are $15, headbands are $10 and scarves are $20.

Cash, check or credit cards will be accepted. Checks should be made payable to Vintage Band Festival.

Tuba Christmas in Northfield is a free and family-friendly event. Be sure to tell your family to join the fun and spread the word to any friends who might wish to join us on stage. Musicians of any age are welcome!

Tuba Christmas 2023 was a success!

Tuba Christmas 2023 in Northfield was a roaring success. An audience of over 600 filled Carleton College’s Skinner Memorial Chapel and listened with rapt attention to nearly 60 tubas and euphoniums playing a variety of Christmas carols. In between numbers, conductor Dr. Paul Niemisto presented information about the evolution of low brass instruments and cultural context for some of the carols.

2023 is the 50th Anniversary of the Tuba Christmas organization and the 24th annual Tuba Christmas in Northfield.

Many thanks to the Carleton’s Conference and Events staff for their assistance in set up and take down and to the college for once again being a supportive co-host for the event.

Tuba Christmas 2023 in Northfield

Vintage Band Festival is presenting Tuba Christmas 2023 in Northfield, Minnesota on Saturday, December 2 at 3:00 pm. The event will take place in Skinner Memorial Chapel, 405 1^st St. E. on the campus of Carleton College. Retired St. Olaf College professor Dr. Paul Niemisto will be the conductor of Tuba Christmas 2023.

Tuba Christmas is an annual event that brings together euphonium, baritone, sousaphone and tuba players of all ages to play Christmas carols for the enjoyment of family, friends and the general public. The music made by dozens of low brass instruments playing as a choir is an experience not to be missed, either as a participant or as a listener.

2023 is the 50th anniversary of Tuba Christmas concert events which are presented throughout the world. Tuba Christmas was conceived in 1974 by tubist Harvey Phillips of Indiana University as a tribute to his teacher and mentor William J. Bell, born on Christmas Day, 1902. The first Tuba Christmas was conducted by Paul Lavalle at New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink on Sunday, December 22, 1974.

There are now over 300 Tuba Christmas events produced annually throughout the United States and internationally. Registration for participants in Northfield’s Tuba Christmas will open at 12:00 pm on December 2. Registration fee is $10. There will be a rehearsal at 1:00 pm and the performance will be at 3:00 pm. Music played at Tuba Christmas will be from “Carols for a Merry Tuba Christmas” which will be available for purchase at registration. Musicians are invited to decorate their instruments if they so choose. Details for the event can be found at www.vintagebandfestival.org . This event is family-friendly, free and open to the public.

Tuba Christmas 2023 in Northfield is made possible with generous assistance from Carleton College.

Tuba Christmas was a resounding success!

Saturday, December 3, was a magical day in Northfield. For the first time in three years Vintage Band Festival was again able to present Tuba Christmas to the Northfield community. 2022 is the 49th anniversary year of Tuba Christmas, an event that is now celebrated in over 300 venues throughout the world.

Nearly 50 musicians were present on the stage in Skinner Memorial Chapel on the campus of Carleton College. The chapel was filled with an appreciative audience and everyone had a smile on their with the joy of being in community again and hearing the sound of low-brass music filling the space.

One registered player was not in his chair, but his tuba was on the stage adorned with a Tuba Christmas headband and a U.S. Navy flag. Nick Borene, a graduate of Northfield High School and now serving in the Navy on the west coast, wanted to attend this year, but couldn’t, so his parents registered him and brought his tuba to the event. We were glad to welcome him in absentia!

Thanks to the members of the VBF board who were on hand to register the musicians, welcome the audience and sell music books and Tuba Christmas apparel. Thanks also to Carleton College for co-hosting and sponsoring the event for the fourth time. See you again in 2023!

Tuba Christmas 2022 in Northfield

There hasn’t been a Tuba Christmas in Northfield since 2019. We’re excited to bring you the following announcement.

Vintage Band Festival is presenting Tuba Christmas 2022 in Northfield, Minnesota on Saturday, December 3 at 3pm. The event will take place in Skinner Memorial Chapel, 405 1^st St. E. on the campus of Carleton College. Retired St. Olaf College professor Dr. Paul Niemisto will be the conductor of Tuba Christmas 2022.

2022 is the 49th anniversary of Tuba Christmas concerts/events which are presented throughout the world. Tuba Christmas was conceived in 1974 by tubist Harvey Phillips of Indiana University as a tribute to his teacher and mentor William J. Bell, born on Christmas Day, 1902. The first Tuba Christmas was conducted by Paul Lavalle at New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink on Sunday, December 22, 1974.

There are now over 300 Tuba Christmas events produced annually throughout the United States and internationally. Registration for participants in Northfield’s Tuba Christmas will open at noon on December 3. Registration fee is $10. There will be a rehearsal at 1:00 pm and the performance will be at 3:00 pm. Music played at Tuba Christmas will be from “Carols for a Merry Tuba Christmas” which will be available for purchase at registration. Participants should bring a music stand if possible. Details for the event can be found at www.vintagebandfestival.org .

Tuba Christmas 2022 in Northfield is made possible with generous assistance from Carleton College.

Tuba Christmas 2020 in Northfield has been cancelled

2020 has turned out to be like nothing any of us born after the end of World War II have ever experienced. We had to cancel the Vintage Band Festival mini-fest that would have taken place on August 1, 2020. Our community of Northfield, the town that defeated the James-Younger gang’s attempted bank robbery in 1876, cancelled the annual Defeat of Jesse James Days celebration for the first time ever since its beginning in 1948. And the internationally reknowned St. Olaf Christmas Festival for 2020 has just been cancelled. All of that will likely make the next sentence easier to understand.

The Vintage Band Festival Board of Directors has decided to cancel Tuba Christmas for 2020. The annual low brass holiday showcase was to have taken place on Saturday, December 5, 2020 at Carleton College in Northfield as it has for the past three years. However, due to the obviously compromising conditions caused by the threat of COVID-19, particularly in indoor settings, this is the wisest and safest course of action.

In the meantime, please support arts organizations of all sorts with whatever financial support and encouragement you can offer. This is a very challenging time for musicians at all levels of engagement, from school children in middle school band to professionals in the finest orchestras in the country.

We hope to bring Vintage Band Festival back to the stage in 2021 and to that end we will continue to monitor guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health as well as our community partners here in Northfield.

Don’t forget: Tuba Christmas 2019 is December 7!

Tuba Christmas 2019 in Northfield, MN.

Skinner Chapel, Carleton College, 405 1st St E.

Registration opens at 12 pm.

$10 registration fee for musicians. Music for Tuba Christmas is the book “Carols for a Merry Tuba Christmas”, which will be available for purchase at the event if you don’t have one already. Books are $20. Tuba Christmas scarves, hats and headbands will also be available for purchase. Please bring a music stand is you have one and don’t forget to decorate your instrument!

Rehearsal is at 1 pm.

Concert is at 3 pm.

Concert is free and open to the public.

Tuba Christmas in Northfield December 7, 2019

Vintage Band Festival, in Northfield, Minnesota, is presenting Tuba Christmas on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 3 pm. The event is co-sponsored by Carleton College and will take place in Skinner Memorial Chapel on the Carleton campus in Northfield. Registration opens at noon, rehearsal will take place at 1pm and the concert will be at 3pm. The Conductor of Tuba Christmas in Northfield will be Dr. Paul Niemisto, retired music faculty at St. Olaf College.

Tuba Christmas is a national activity that takes place in more than 300 locations across the United States. In each location (churches, hotel and mall atria, outdoor settings, colleges and universities, music halls) tuba and euphonium players get together under the leadership of a local musician or music educator to play Christmas carols. The sound that results is extremely rich and moving. The participants have a fabulous experience and return to play again year after year. Participant ages range from 11-80+.

If you play tuba, sousaphone, euphonium or baritone, please join us! If you’re a teacher of students who play those instruments, please bring your whole section! Also, please bring a music stand if you have one.

Participation fee for musicians is $10. Admission for the audience is free. This is a family-friendly event!