MHS Musicians Play at Merry TubaChristmas

The 48th Annual Merry TubaChristmas, a worldwide event, was held in our area in Aberdeen on Saturday, December 11. Milbank students who participated included: Devon Mueller, Sam Shelstad, Darin Hagen, William Karels, Henry Pederson, and Nycole Korstjens. 

Practice was held in the morning followed by performances at the Lakewood Mall, Walmart, and Dakota Prairie Museum.  Each year, a contest is held for best costume and decorated instrument. Sam was the winner of the competition.

This year, players ranged in age from a sixth-grade student to musicians in their 60s. Drake Rogers, a 2021 alumnus of MHS, and William Karels, an MHS senior, both marked five years of playing in the event. The Milbank students were accompanied to the event by Susan Karels, the band director for grades six and up in the Milbank School District.

Front row: Nycole Korstjens – eighth grade- euphonium; Mrs. Karels – MMS and MHS Band Director; and Darin Hagen – sixth grade – euphonium.
Second row: Sam Shelstad – seventh grade – tuba; Devon Mueller – eighth grade – tuba; William Karels -senior sousaphone; Drake Rogers – MHS alumnus – sousaphone; and Henry Pederson-senior – sousaphone

TUBACHRISTMAS was conceived in 1974 as a tribute to the late William J. Bell, born Christmas Day in 1902. The annual holiday celebration is a chance to express respect and gratitude for the contributions of many great performers, teachers, and composers and to dazzle audiences with the lesser known  “heavy metal” sounds. In 2018, a Guinness Book of World Records’ performance was held in Kansas City with 835 tubas and euphoniums. To break the record, the musicians, from age 11 to 86, had to continuously play a song — they chose “Silent Night” — for five minutes. That record still stands.