ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
If you're looking for a sleigh-rides-over-snowy-landscapes kind of Christmas, San Antonio is not the place to find it. But if you're thinking South Texans don't have holiday traditions that are equally endearing, well, then perhaps you have not heard about this one, the TubaMeister Christmas. Texas Public Radio's Jack Morgan takes us to the River Walk for the event that's charmed locals and tourists for the last 45 years.
JACK MORGAN, BYLINE: People stream into St. John's Lutheran Church and the nearby River Walk the Saturday before Christmas. Every one of them carries a silver or gold-colored tuba, euphonium or baritone horn.
RAY GRIM: I think that there may be a certain amount of chaos, but underneath it all, it's mostly under control.
MORGAN: Forty-five years ago, Ray Grim - and, no, he doesn't live up to that last name - began this curious tradition of inviting anyone who can play a horn in the tuba family of instruments to join him and play carols in the open-air Arneson River Theater. And the hard reality he faces every year - what'll the weather be like?
GRIM: It's cool. It's somewhat sunny. And this is a perfect day just as far as weather's concerned.
LEE HIPP: That's why I'm wearing a nice light short-sleeved shirt today.
MORGAN: Lee Hipp is the principal tuba player with the San Antonio Philharmonic. He's wearing a bright red shirt with cellos and musical notes all over it. This is not his first tuba rodeo.
HIPP: I've been doing this since 1989, when I first came to San Antonio to be the principal tuba with the San Antonio Symphony.
MORGAN: What they're doing at St. John's is a one-hour practice before performing on the River Walk. Hipp directs the practice, which is no small feat when 170 horn players show up.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HIPP: Here we go. One, two.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
HIPP: We all have a role to play in music, and the bass line is, you know, one of those roles. And so that's what we're relegated to most of the time.
MORGAN: Most of the time doesn't include today because today is the day that tubas rule the roost.
HIPP: Oh, yeah, yeah. No, it's - that's why we do it. I mean, you want to get the challenge of playing the melody, playing the harmony, trying to make that fit.
MORGAN: After an hour's practice, it was time to hit the stage.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MORGAN: The youngest here today was 9-year-old Sam Freeman.
How long have you been playing tuba?
SAM FREEMAN: Almost a year. I think I started at February.
MORGAN: I had noticed him playing, and he seemed composed and focused.
SAM: I was a little nervous at first, but then it felt really good to be playing.
MORGAN: His dad was right next to him with his own tuba. Perhaps the most relaxed musician this year was Bob Nelson. I asked how long had he been playing tuba.
BOB NELSON: Well, since about high school, that's about 80 years ago, roughly, since I'm 92.
MORGAN: His ball cap identified him as a Korea and Vietnam War veteran. And he was here with his grandson, Seamus Nelson.
SEAMUS NELSON: I think we've been the lone grandpa-grandson duo for about 10 years, but it's a lot more fun with Grandpa, for sure.
MORGAN: And for the first time, his grandfather is sitting in a chair for the performance.
B NELSON: They offered one when I was 90, and I was pretty spry still. So I took the chair this time.
MORGAN: If anyone has earned the right to play tuba sitting down, it's Bob Nelson.
For NPR News in San Antonio, I'm Jack Morgan.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG "WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS" (EUPHONIUM COVER)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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