The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibration – a buzz – into a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the newer instruments in the modern orchestra and concert band, and largely replaced the ophicleide. Tuba is Latin for "trumpet".
The Concerto in F Minor for Bass Tuba and Orchestra by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was written in 1954 for Philip Catelinet, principal tubist of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), who together gave the premiere on 13 June 1954 with Sir John Barbirolli conducting. The same musicians made the work’s first recording that same year. This concerto was the first concerto written for solo tuba.
A tuba is a musical instrument that plays notes in the bass clef.
Harvey Gene Phillips, Sr. was an American tuba player. He served as the Distinguished Professor of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington and was dedicated advocate for the tuba becoming popularly known as Mr. Tuba.
Velvet Brown is an American tubist and euphonium player. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of Music at Pennsylvania State University, prior to which she taught at Bowling Green State University and Ball State University.
David Fedderly is an American orchestral tuba player and teacher.
William John Bell was the premier player and teacher of the tuba in America during the first half of the 20th century. In 1921, he joined the band of John Philip Sousa, and from 1924 to 1937 he served as Principal Tuba with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In 1937 General Electric's David Sarnoff invited conductor Arturo Toscanini to select personnel for The NBC Symphony Orchestra. William Bell was the third musician selected by Toscanini, after his concertmaster Mischa Mischakoff and principal oboe Philip Ghignatti.
Ralph Winston Morris is an American tubist. He served as professor of tuba and euphonium at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee, for 55 years, and subsequent to his retirement after the 2021-2022 academic year, was named Professor Emeritus of Tuba and Euphonium. Morris is editor of The Tuba Source Book and the Euphonium Source Book.
Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Consort is a US big band scored for low brass instruments – euphoniums, and tubas – performed by artists who are renowned in jazz or classical or both.
James Akins is an American tubist, music professor, and both a player and maker of Native American flutes.
Toru Miura is a Japanese euphonium player and professor at Kunitachi College of Music. He is a founding member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA), formerly named Tubist Universal Brotherhood Association (TUBA).
Brian Leslie Bowman is an American virtuoso euphonium artist and music professor who, among other things, held the principal euphonium chair and was a featured soloist with the premier concert bands of the United States Navy and Air Force. On March 28, 1976, Bowman performed the first euphonium recital at Carnegie Hall.
The Chamber Wind Music of Jack Cooper is the first classical/new music studio recording featuring numerous performing artists recording chamber wind music of the composer on the Centaur Records label.
James Martin Self is an American tubist and composer from Los Angeles. Self has performed extensively in Los Angeles and internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral tubist, and, most notably, as a studio musician in the Los Angeles movie studios having appeared on over 1500 soundtracks. He is also known for his association with the Pasadena Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Los Angeles Opera and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
Zdzisław Piernik is a Polish virtuoso tuba player.
David McLemore is an American tubist and Instructor of tuba and euphonium at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.
Paul Edmund Bierley was an American music historian. Among his awards were a Society for American Music Lifetime Achievement Award and receiving an Honorary Doctor of Music from Ohio State University.
Constance Weldon was an American tuba player, who was the first woman to play the instrument in a major American orchestra.
Dietrich Unkrodt was a German tubist and double bass player, the principal tubist of the Komische Oper Berlin. He was particularly active as a jazz tubist, appearing internationally. Unkrodt was one of the pioneers of solo tuba music in Germany.
