Tuba
Brass Family
The tuba is the lone giant, since most orchestras only have one. Even though all brass instruments have a bell at the end of the instrument where the sound comes out, the tuba is the only member of the brass family whose bell points up at the ceiling. Approximately eighteen feet of tubing separate the mouthpiece and the bell. Like the double bass, the tuba provides depth and stability to the orchestra.
Artists
Steven Campbell
Principal Tuba, Robert Machray Ward Chair
Principal Tuba Steven Campbell, a native of Texas, assumed his current post in 2005, after having performed with the Minnesota Orchestra on its 2004 European tour and in numerous subscription concerts. He performed two solos with the Orchestra during the 2010-11 season: Torbjörn Lundquist’s Landscape for Tuba and String Orchestra at subscription concerts and George Kleinsinger’s Tubby the Tuba at education and family concerts. In a May 2023 subscription concert, he performed Wynton Marsalis’ Tuba Concerto. A frequent presence in the Orchestra's chamber music series, Campbell has performed on Victor Ewald’s Brass Quintet No. 3, James Stephenson's Pillars and Paquito D'Rivera's Four Pieces for Brass Quintet, among others.