The University of Idaho Argonaut

Joel Hoyer poses with his tuba. Hoyer will be participating in this year's Tubaween performance. The event will take place at 7 p.m. tonight in the Lionel Hampton School of Music Recital Hall. Nick Groff/Argonaut

When most people think of Halloween, they think of candy, costumes and an evening of scary fun. But lurking within the halls of the Lionel Hampton School of Music is another item for that list: tubas.
Tubaween is an annual event at the University of Idaho. It’s put on by the LHSOM tuba studio and the sousaphone section of The Sound of Idaho.

“It’s a legitimate tuba performance for the first half with comedic bits,” said Paul Taylor, a composition major who does the music and helps with the writing for the show. “And the second half is based off a movie we add a tuba character to.”
Taylor said the show doesn’t usually get written until the week before, with an evening for viewing the movies picked for the year’s theme. This year’s theme was announced as “Tuba Jones and the Origin of the Skirt” and will contain bits and pieces of the “Indiana Jones” movie series. Previous years’ themes have included: “The Tuba Book,” “The Tuba King,” “Torrey and the Tuba Factory” and “The Tuba of Oz.”

“It’s not only a tradition at UI,” Taylor said. “We just happen to take it a bit more to the extreme.”
The two groups postpone planning so they can draw on their experiences in the marching band and their coursework for inspiration. Last year’s Tubaween featured a parody of a Jazz Choir I piece, reworking the lyrics and the title to produce “Eternal Tuba, Strong To Save.”
“It should be a good time,” Matthew Thompson said, a biology major and the section leader of the sousaphones. He contributes to the Tubaween script and will play a part in the production.

“There’s nothing much to it besides having a good time and enjoying the laughter and company of the tuba studio and the sousaphones,” he said.
Rehearsals for the event started on Wednesday.
“We all know that they don’t put a lot of time in it until the last minute, but they always come out with a really awesome result,” said Heather Wells, an elementary education major who attended Tubaween last year. “I’m excited for Friday.”
Taylor said the show is designed to be friendly for families and college-age students, but there is “a great deal of unexpectedness in Tubaween.”

Tubaween is 8 p.m. tonight at the Recital Hall. Admission is one can of food, which will be donated to the local food bank. Concertgoers are encouraged to dress up as there will be a costume contest during the show’s intermission.