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Mr. Tuba - New Harvey Phillips Book

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Almost anyone who plays low brass knows the name Harvey Phillips. He was "instrumental" in producing so many opportunities that we now take for granted that it would be hard to overstate his importance. And he has meant a lot to me personally. He was a guest soloist with my college band at University of Iowa and also a couple decades later with The U.S. Coast Guard Band. His college performance was the first time I heard a tuba soloist play a lyrical melody with such grace and beauty (he did "Bless this House" as an encore to his performance that night). I have been a guest performer at TubaChristmas (a Harvey Phillips invention) and the Coast Guard Euphonium-Tuba Quartet did its first performance at an Octubafest (a Harvey Phillips invention).

Now we all have a chance to learn many more details and some fun insights into his long and productive career. His autobiography is just now published, and it is available from Amazon's Tuba-Euphonium Store.

Here is a direct link to that book on the store's site: Harvey Phillips: Mr. Tuba, an Autobiography

Here is the description from Amazon:

With warmth and humor, tuba virtuoso Harvey Phillips tells the story of his amazing life and career from his Missouri childhood through his days as a performer with the King Brothers and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses, his training at the Juilliard School, a stint with the US Army Field Band, and his freelance days with the New York City Opera and Ballet. A founder of the New York Brass Quintet, Phillips served as vice president of the New England Conservatory of Music and became Distinguished Professor of Music at Indiana University. The creator of an industry of TubaChristmases, Octubafests, and TubaSantas, he crusaded for recognition of the tuba as a serious musical instrument, commissioning more than 200 works. Enhanced by an extensive gallery of photographs, Mr. Tuba conveys Phillips's playful zest for life while documenting his important musical legacy.

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