Mitchell's Lelia Kentmeister continues long tradition of TubaChristmas concerts

Dec. 19—MITCHELL — When she was 14, Lelia Guilbert Kentmeister was a budding clarinetist who had just arrived at her new home on a farm near De Smet. She was all ready to join the band at her new school and lend her talents to the group.

But her instructor had other ideas.

"I was playing the clarinet and the teacher didn't like the way I played clarinet," Kentmeister, 82, told the Mitchell Republic recently. "But I wanted to be in the band, and the tuba player was graduating."

Thus began her 67-year relationship with the beefy brass bass instrument. Since her arrival in South Dakota in 1955, she has gone on to play with countless community bands, symphonics and school bands throughout the state, country and even abroad. She marched with the instrument in three Hobo Days parades in Brookings and even recently traveled to New York for a special holiday event.

She still plays actively today, having just recently completed a series of TubaChristmas performances in and around Mitchell, including stops at County Fair, Coborn's and several assisted living centers in town.

But it all started with her band instructor in De Smet, who showed her a few basics and then sent her home to practice.

"My only lesson was the band director pulled out the mouthpiece, showed me how to buzz into it, and I buzzed into it. He hit a low F on the piano and had me try to find the sound," Kentmeister said. "And he said, 'OK, take the horn home and learn how to play it.' And he sent me home with a fingering chart."

It was an appropriate lesson for someone with an analytical mind who liked to solve problems. She had learned some basic keyboarding skills back home in Arkansas, which allowed her to read treble clef music. She learned bass clef music through the tuba, and also taught herself to sing alto parts in vocal music so she could find a home in her high school chorus.

It all served her well during her time in South Dakota and later in life during stints in places like California and Colorado.

"I love music. I loved playing in the band and now I had an instrument to learn. My mother taught us all, and my sisters and I sang, and we had better harmony with me singing alto instead of us all singing the same note," Kentmeister said.

It was in 1975 that she played her first TubaChristmas in Los Angeles, California.

TubaChristmas was first conceived in 1974 by Harvey Phillips as a tribute to his teacher and mentor William J. Bell, who was born on Christmas Day, 1902. The concert style was created to reflect on the heritage of artists and teachers whose legacy has instilled high performance standards, well-structured pedagogy, professional integrity, personal values and camaraderie,

according to the TubaChristmas website.

The first TubaChristmas was conducted by Paul Lavalle in New York City's Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink on Sunday, Dec. 22, 1974, but the concept has spread across the United States as well as internationally ever since.

Kentmeister has been playing for TubaChristmas performances regularly since 1995, focusing mainly on the Upper Midwest. She has played TubaChristmases in California, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota.

And after a recent trip out east, she can add New York to that list. And not just New York, but the famed Rockefeller Plaza, where the modern musical tradition began. She joined

hundreds of performers from around the country who all share the same passion for the brass instrument.

"Last week Sunday I was in New York City for the 50th year of TubaChristmas," Kentmeister said with a laugh, "In the rain. Pouring rain. But it's always been on my bucket list."

TubaChristmas concerts usually run up to an hour and feature Christmas music in the style of religious carols as well as secular standards. Players range in age from young budding musicians to veterans like Kentmeister, who traveled with a fellow tuba player from Deadwood and her husband Rich to the New York event.

It was an exciting time for someone who grew up in an era when the tuba was not necessarily a common instrument for women to play, despite there being many women tuba players active in 2023, Kentmeister said.

But every TubaChristmas performance is a special event to her. She enjoys seeing people gather around to listen to the music, like they did recently at the performances at the South Dakota state capitol and at places like Coborn's and County Fair, where she performed with fellow tuba lovers Danielle DeKruif, Dean Soukup, Dave Larson, Mike Catalano and Joel Van Peursem.

The sound of their tuba music would draw curious consumers away from their shopping lists to stand and listen.

"The next thing you know, people are coming out of the aisles and we have an audience," Kentmeister said.

She remains active in the local music scene, partnering with friends and colleagues from Mitchell and around the state to bring the instrument's music to the masses. She is also active in the New Horizons Band in Sioux Falls, which is a concert band for musicians 50 years and older.

And, of course, she focuses on her TubaChristmas performances. She rents a 15-passenger van to accommodate her handful of performers and their bulky instruments and hop from place to place around Mitchell, often ending up at a local restaurant for a final performance and some good food.

"I love TubaChristmas. I just love the way people respond and react when we invite them to sing along if they wish. Just the happiness on those people's faces," Kentmeister said. "And it's a marathon for people who play tuba. I've been dealing with chapped lips ever since, yet I've stayed with it."

Her love of playing in general has only grown in the decades since she began. Now in her 80s, she is often the elder stateswoman at performances, but not always.

"I'm pretty much the oldest one everywhere. There are not many people in their 80s who continue to play," Kentmeister said. "When we drove out to New York a player from Deadwood rode with us. He's 84 and he was the oldest tuba player at Rockefeller Plaza. My goal is to be the oldest person playing a TubaChristmas, but there's always some old man a year or two older than me. But I do get the prize for oldest horn."

Her preferred tuba dates back to the 1870s, which she describes as a "heavy beast" that weighs around 36 pounds. And while the challenges of traveling with a tuba from state to state can be daunting, it remains a most prized possession. She also owns newer, smaller tubas, but they don't always perform the way she wants them to.

Take her "Mighty Midget," for example. It's more modern and compact, but it comes up short in one important area.

"The only thing it lacks is volume, and I want to blow the roof off," Kentmeister said.

In addition to the joy tuba music and performances have given her, she credits it with keeping her healthy in her later years. About 20 years ago, Kentmeister was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease in which the immune system overreacts, causing groups of cells to form clusters of inflamed tissue called "granulomas" in one or more organs of the body. In Kentmeister's case, the disease settled in her lungs.

Her doctor's recommendation? More tuba playing.

"Every six months I have pulmonary function tests to determine if this is going anywhere or if it's staying the way it is, and I always come back with good tests. And my pulmonologist looked me in the eye and said 'you have to keep playing the tuba,'" Kentmeister said. "Look at what it requires. The physical part of doing it, your lung power — think about how much wind that takes — and you need your mind to transpose all those little black dots so that they make sense."

She is also dealing with macular degeneration, so she's looking into options that will allow her to continue to read music efficiently.

But her drive to perform remains intact. In fact, she is looking at doing one more late-season TubaChristmas performance, maybe this time in Michigan, or perhaps another one closer to home in Mitchell.

And she hopes new players will continue to join her, whether they are 18 years old or 80. There is joy to be shared through tuba music and performances, and she knows the instrument and the camaraderie she's found through her love of it can bring others that same joy.

"When you're playing music, that is joyful. When you're playing with a group, that makes it even more joyful," Kentmeister said. "I'll play as long as I can play and read the music and people are interested in letting me play with them. I'm 82 years old and I still love it."