ITEA Journal Volume 48 Number 3 (Spring 2021)

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Latin American Women of the Tuba and Euphonium Community
By Ingrith Saavedra Tower

In Latin America, from Mexico to Patagonia, women support establishments of society and they are the backbone of humanity. Female tuba and euphonium players in Latin America encounter three big obstacles that they have to overcome to achieve their goals. Our character and determination has made us resilient to all the financial and emotional negativity that exists in the environment. I chose to write this article in celebration of international women's day on March 8 which, according to the UN, is "a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women, who played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities." I honor each of these dedicated women who played an extraordinary role in the history of their home countries with the blessing of their musicianship despite facing obstacles many would consider insurmountable.

Ingrith Saavedra Tower

The first of many obstacles, social prejudice is perhaps the earliest and most pervasive challenge female tuba and euphonium players contend with in Latin America. I started playing the tuba when I was twelve years old, marching with a sousaphone on and my mom by my side. She offered her help every time she thought I was exhausted, but I was determined to demonstrate that I had sufficient physical and emotional strength to play the tuba. This was difficult because my parents were worried about me marching with that huge sousaphone through the streets of Panama for hours on end. The physical toll was just the beginning; I had to hear rude comment after rude comment from men, endure discrimination for being a woman, family members making fun of me, friends not understanding what I was doing with that huge instrument and countless situations when just being a tuba player frustrated me and almost made me quit. At that time, I thought I was the only person living this situation, but now I know that I was not alone. Of the 12 women I spoke to, almost all of them started approximately when they were 12 years old, encountered some kind of rejection with regards to what they wanted to play, and were told to play something more "feminine" like the clarinet or even trumpet.

Should they overcome the first obstacle, they are quickly met with another: finding a teacher. After I started playing with my band, and as I continued my involvement with the instrument, I discovered other opportunities such as studying in the National Institute of Music with a trumpet teacher, although the trumpet and tuba are very different instruments. I studied there and at the University of Panamá, pursuing a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts which opened my mind to other arts such as dance, painting, sculpture, and theatre. I did not, however, have a tuba teacher until a teacher from the U.S. Army Band stationed at one of the military bases in Panamá came to the Music Institute and started teaching us. It was during this time that I read my first ITEA magazine-back then it was called TUBA-and there she was, the first woman tuba performer I'd ever seen, besides myself. My teacher Richard G. Elder helped me immensely, not just with the instrument but emotionally as well. He exposed me to other people and let me know there was much more than just playing the Arban method for tuba like a trumpet player. At that time there was no YouTube or internet at home. I had to go to an internet café to get information about everything. Eventually Elder left, and I was without a tuba teacher again. I searched for information on professors in the USA and Puerto Rico and found out they were accepting international students to some colleges. I had to pass the TOEFL, an English proficiency test, but in Puerto Rico, I did not have to pass that, and I could go as soon as they accepted me. The education was at the same level as in the US and the tuba teacher was a former student of Harvey Phillips, somebody that my teacher in Panamá had talked about a lot. Because of this, I decided to go to Puerto Rico to audition, but first I had to have a scholarship to get a visa to be able to enter Puerto Rico, as it is part of the US after all. I began applying for a loan that was co-signed by my mom and a very good friend. I got the loan, applied for my visa, and got it. I went to an audition and they put me right in first year. I was happy to not have to do those years of preparation to enter the career, but disappointed that all the years of studying and holding a bachelor's in Fine Arts only prepared me to start as a first year in an international institution. Despite this, after around six years of looking, I found what I was looking for, an amazing tuba teacher who could help me.

My third obstacle was financial. I had been studying the tuba for several years and always played with borrowed instruments. I never had enough money to buy a new tuba and neither did my family. I left Panamá and went to Puerto Rico with just my mouthpiece. I borrowed a BBb tuba from the Conservatory that everybody called "the helicopter." (When it was played, it sounded like a helicopter.) After my first year, the conservatory bought a CC tuba and that was shared between the three tuba students that were there. I needed to learn the CC tuba fingerings but I never did; I just transposed the notes and kept on going, but over time my sight-reading was affected, and it was more like a step backwards on my progress. The conservatory offered me a scholarship since I was the only girl who played a rare instrument and I accepted it. This scholarship helped me manage my living situation and my eating situation too. Soon after, a band director asked me to record a CD for the band and that they would pay me for it. At the time, I didn't know that I was not supposed to work since I had a student visa. Even though this wasn't technically work, just a one-time thing, I could not get paid with a check for it. It all worked out however and my financial situation got better because of it, though I still did not have a tuba. On my last year at the conservatory I bought my tuba in Eb with the help of my mom. I did the audition for my master's degree in Illinois with it and played part of my recital with it. To acquire my own tuba was an achievement because for years I had been borrowing instruments and asking for help but, finally, I had my own tuba and it all paid off.

These obstacles have made me stronger, and I am the first woman to play the tuba in my country and the first person to hold a degree for the instrument in Panama. I feel proud of my accomplishments even though it has cost me many tears, disappointments, insomnia, and pain. I am not the only one, which is the important thing, as all the euphonium and tuba performers I interviewed have gone through some kind of struggle. Of course, times have changed and today in Panamá there are two tuba teachers, one in the Conservatory and another one on the Fine Arts faculty of the University of Panama. Some of the women I interviewed have had a better experience-some have had a teacher from the beginning, some have not encountered prejudice regarding the instrument, and some of them even had various opportunities open to them, something that I had to search for.

As varied as the culture is in Latin America, so too is its population. History left us with a mixture of races, religions and customs that make us rich in many ways. In the tuba/euphonium world there is no exception. Among the 21 countries and the 652 million inhabitants, approximately a few thousand are musicians. Relatively few are tuba players and as for women tuba players, I found around 20. All of us have had different experiences: our firsts steps with the instrument, our teachers, how we acquired an instrument, and so much more. I present to you these ladies who perform either tuba or euphonium today. Together, we are a strong group of women who are trying to make a difference, express ourselves, and have fun by playing these magnificent instruments. We will not ask permission; we will embrace our personality, our femininity and our musicianship.

Andressa Luz - Euphonium - Brazil

I started to play euphonium when I was nine years old in a marching band from my city. Later I enrolled in the David Tardello Music Conservatory in Piedade and after that in the Dr. Carlos de Campos Drama Conservatory in Tatuí, São Pablo, Brasil. There I had classes with maestro Wagner Santos and Marco Almeida Jr.

Andressa Luz

When I started my life as a musician, I wanted to play the trombone but I was small, so my teacher insisted on the euphonium. After a while I got interested and never stopped studying it. Since I started studying my parents supported me in all my decisions. They always gave me a lot of emotional and financial support. I was very happy in my school trajectory because I studied in a renowned school, with good teachers and great classmates. The Tatuí Conservatory has a long tradition molding high performance musicians from children, teenagers and adults. In my trajectory I never had trouble with anybody or anything; people were always very receptive and caring.

I was the first woman euphonium player to graduate from the Conservatory after sixty years of its existence. I also have bachelors in Music Education.

Nowadays I am the trombone section leader in the Sorocaba Sesi Senai Jazz Orchestta. I am also the arranger and assistant conductor of Orquestra Les Ensembles. One of the best experiences I had was my participation in the Regional ITEA conference in Tatuí in 2017. I participated as a soloist in the conference and was the only Conservatory representative to have a recital.

As a teacher I hope to help my students in the same way my teachers always helped me and encourage them to make good music wherever they go.

Angélica Teixeira - Tuba - Venezuela

Angélica started at nine years old in the Orchestra System in Venezuela. Her first teacher was Lisandro Laya, trombone player in the National Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. The tuba was the only instrument left at that moment and she knew she wanted to stay with a brass instrument, but she did not know what the tuba was. Thanks to Joel Martínez (another trombone player) she picked up the tuba. The majority of her teachers had been trombone players, but she studied with tuba players as well including Lewis Pantoja, Esteban Villegas and Ángel Linares.

Angélica Teixeira

One of the difficulties she had when starting to play the instrument was that her family and friends told her that the Tuba was too big for her. They were not used to the sound and it made them laugh; they always made jokes about it. Later on, they got used to it and supported her in all her endeavors. She started at the young age of nine playing the tuba, singing in the children's choir and taking "music language" lessons. At the very beginning breathing was difficult, but she studied the Pilafian/Sheridan Breathing Gym and it helped her a lot.

Angélica was a virtuosa tuba player, but she didn't have a tuba teacher until later, which hindered her opportunities to audition for bigger bands and orchestras. Later on, she was not called to play in the auditions either and that kept her from her dream-to audition for the Orquesta Simón Bolívar, the most important in Venezuela. For some reason, she was never called to replace anybody in orchestra or bands, something that she did not understand. They always called the boys first, even though she played better, and she was always called last.

Angélica studied Education since she was twelve years old, giving lessons in the "red de orquestas" to the kids that were below her and knew less. Later on, she participated in bands and small ensembles until she graduated as a teacher to be a director in one of the provinces for the program. One of her most wonderful experiences with the tuba was when she was sixteen years old, participating in the Youth Orchestra Simón Bolívar with Gustavo Dudamel as the conductor. They did a tour throughout all of Venezuela. Angélica also plays the trombone in salsa bands.

Graciela Alejandra Vanegas Jimenez - Euphonium - Colombia

Graciela started playing euphonium when she was eight years old in the Band of the school for the Sinfónica de Bogotá in Colombia. Her first teacher was Juan Gabriel Carrillo. At the beginning she wanted to play the trombone but when she decided to enter the band, they told her that there was no trombone available and the teacher said, "why you don´t play euphonium?" Her family and friends supported her very much, though dad was a little difficult because he thought music will not support her livelihood. Her difficulties have been in the social sense as she was always criticized for being a girl playing that "big instrument." She had had conflicts with her peers because she played very well since she was young and some of them did not want to give her opportunities as she was the youngest and the smallest of them all.

Graciela Alejandra Vanegas Jimenez

She studied at the Universidad Nacional de Bogotá for three years in the preparatory school and now she is waiting to start actual college. The euphonium has helped her get out in public. When she was sixteen years old, she went on tour with her band to Spain with the Banda del Municipio de Soacha. They went to Valencia, Toledo, Barcelona, Granada, and many other places and won second place in the competition. When she was studying, her teacher allowed her to be the soloist in a concert with the University Band. Her classmates did not like that; one of them was furious and said she did not deserve to be the soloist, which affected her self-esteem.

Graciela played with the Banda Santa María de Bogotá, as part of the euphonium quartet Euforia, with the Symphony Orchestra of Bogotá, and in a quartet called Varón del Sur Brass. She would love to learn to play the tuba, trombone, saxophone, and percussion.

Linda Jimenez - Tuba - Colombia

Linda played the tuba for the first time when she was 13 years old in a university program for children and youth. She has 21 years of experience playing the tuba. Her first teacher was Rafael Perez. Life has guided her here and she liked the tuba from the beginning. She started with the euphonium and she liked it very much. At that moment the programs for tuba were developing. Her close family supported her morally and her brother was a musician too, so they helped her in that process.

Linda Jimenez

The process has been long. To find teachers that could help her was difficult. She had a crisis because of this, as well as due to the cost of the instrument. She had had a lot of financial difficulties; to study and work at the same time is not easy. To buy one's own instrument is very costly for a Latin American, and tuba is one of the most expensive instruments. To enter into the music scene was another process, but she always played in bands and chamber music groups. She has not felt much discrimination for being a woman, although she remembers some. In one band, where she applied and won the position, they put her last tuba but then when they heard her performing, they changed her to first. It always happens, she says, and she is used to it.

Linda graduated from the University Antonio Nariño with a bachelor's in music and specialized in tuba. She studied for five years with maestro Juan Erney Sepúlveda. She holds a master's in Musical Interpretation and Investigation from the Universidad Internacional de Valencia, España. Her satisfaction comes from when she performs with different orchestras and bands, for example Vaughn Williams's Concerto with the Banda Metropolitana de Bogotá. She has played in the Orquesta Sinfónica de Bogotá, Colombian Brass Quintet, Brass Ensemble of the Orchesta, a tuba and clarinet duet, with a Colombian songwriter, popular music and salsa and she would love to learn how to play the trombone.

Evelyn Teatino - Tuba - Colombia

I started playing the tuba when I was 12 years old. My grandmother took me to Batuta, a foundation in Colombia to help kids in arts, and my grandmother´s idea was to get me into something. This foundation helps community kids practice music in orchestras and pre-orchestras so they can keep going in a music career. The tuba was love at first sight and sound. Linda Jimenez was my first teacher. I came from a private school and I played the euphonium there, but when I got to Batuta, I changed to the tuba. My mother told me to audition for a different instrument-she tried to convince me to play French horn-but I liked the tuba. My dad did not have a problem with it, but my grandma said that that instrument was not for a girl. I have not encountered much opposition, but I realized that I started to feel inferior to the men that I played with. I had let society and what other people say get into my head.

Evelyn Teatino

I am in my sixth semester in instrumental music at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. The best experiences that I had was when I played for the first time on a big stage "El León de Garay," and when I won a scholarship and went to Panama to participate in the International Festival de Saint Malo. I have played "La Comparsa" on euphonium and I would like to play the clarinet or saxophone. I am getting audition repertoire ready to audition for a brass band or opera house.

Karen Lizeth López Arias - Tuba - Colombia

Karen started playing the tuba in the year 2012 and still plays now. In her school there was no tuba professor, so they all learned from the band conductor. Her band directors taught her how to play and her tuba teacher, Linda Jimenez, taught her more specifics of the tuba. It was the only instrument that was left for her to choose, but she felt that it goes with her personality. She thinks the tuba has a strong character and it was a challenge for her. Her family was very surprised, and they could not imagine her playing such a huge instrument. Before playing the tuba, she played percussion and they always gave her the bass drum part. Later, some people would say, "Where is that tuba is going with that girl?" They made fun of her because she was very skinny. The beginning was difficult; she had to adapt to the tuba, learn how to breathe, use her lungs, and sometimes she felt at a disadvantage, but she overcame these obstacles. She had had difficulties financially because buying a tuba is not easy, but her family helped her with that. It was really expensive, almost like buying a car.

Karen Lizeth López Arias

Karen is studying in the basic program of the National University of Colombia with maestro Freddy Romero and she is in her first year. The best experiences that she has had with the instrument have always been in bands. She participated in district conferences and she played with the Band of the Universidad Javeriana. She is a professor at Centro Salesiano de Formación Artística (CESFA), she is the tuba player at the Banda Obra Salesiana del Niño Jesús and she has a duet with Evelyn Teatino. Also they created an all-female brass quintet at the university. One good experience that she can remember was when she participated with the University band in an exchange with the Band Simón Bolívar from Venezuela and they shared all their musicians. It was nerve racking, but they did a great job. She would like to learn to play the euphonium as well.

Girlany Gonzalez - Euphonium - Costa Rica

Girlany started playing the euphonium in the school band when she was approximately 14 years old. She played without a teacher until she got into the preparatory for college, where she started with her only teacher so far, maestro Martín Bonilla. She has a twin sister and a baby sister. Her twin sister plays the saxophone and her baby sister plays percussion. She wanted to play trumpet at first, but the teacher said that there was a new instrument coming and that that instrument would be good for her. Her parents supported her and bought her a professional euphonium. She wanted to quit, but later at the preparatory for college they convinced her to keep playing.

Girlany Gonzalez

Girlany studied three years of preparatory, two years in College, and then she quit. The reason is because there was no professor. Besides, the environment was very competitive and not healthy for the mind. Because of all these situations, she got together with a friend and they created some spaces for themselves (the brass girls), they created an all-female brass quintet, and they also created an association of about thirty all-female brass players that was halted because of the pandemic. They did this because they thought other classmates treated them differently because they were women. They felt they were not given the credit that they merited and others made up things stating that all they had accomplished was only because they were girls.

Even though Girlany had had a teacher, he did not motivate her to learn things for the euphonium. She felt that he did not like her asking questions and looking for information. One of the worst experiences she had had was when the all female brass quintet went to Guatemala for a brass conference and all the other participants were men. They treated them very badly, made indecent comments, and made them feel like pieces of meat.

Girlany plays in the Lilum Brass and Mulier Brass. She has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica and with the Banda Sinfónica de Heredia. She would like to learn to play French Horn.

Iris Vieira - Tuba - Brazil

Iris is thirty years old. She started musical studies at age 14 in a social project at a regular school in the city of São Caetano in the state of Pernanbuco, Brazil. Her first teacher was Mozart Vieira, who played the flute and taught several band instruments in the social project. Iris played the flute for two years until some new instruments came, and because there were many people in the flute section, conductor Mozart Vieira introduced her to the tuba.

Iris Vieira

Iris's family was against her studying music; when they realized she was going to play the tuba, they asked her to change it because that instrument was big and it was for men. She spent many years with a teacher who played all instruments and taught them too. It was difficult because she didn't learn well without a tuba teacher. After ten years, she had the opportunity to learn from a tuba professor named Valmir Vieira in the extension course at the Federal University of Paraíba-UFPB and later earned a bachelor's degree in tuba performance at the Federal University of Paraíba with maestro Valmir Vieira. She earned a masters in Music Education with a specialization in Tuba and Euphonium Methodology. She also studied flute as her secondary instrument for two years.

Iris had the opportunity to travel to France four times to study and perform, as well as Germany, where she played in a band Os Meninos de São Caetano. It was a very important experience in her life.

Iris is a member of the Symphonic Orchestra of the city of Recife in Pernambuco. She is a tuba professor at the University of Paraíba and instructor of the brass ensemble Sexteto Brassil/UFPB, the Instrumental Group Brazil of the state of Pernanbuco, and the Brass Ensemble of the Federal University of Paraíba in João Pessoa- Paraíba

Montserrat Calvo - Tuba - Costa Rica

Montserrat started playing the tuba when she was 14 years old in a government program called SINEM (Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical (National System of Musical Education)). Her first teacher was Andrés Porras, though she did not have a teacher until she got into the National Institute of Music. She went every fifteen days to SINEM until the point where she had to pick an instrument. Of her options the tuba was her first, then bassoon, and then the double bass. The teacher asked her to play euphonium while the actual tuba arrived at the school. For a year she had to study other instruments such as percussion and euphonium until she held her tuba. She felt that the tuba picked her, really. Her friends thought it was good that she played the tuba. In her house they were worried because of her grandfather. Her grandfather is the one that encouraged her to study music and the day after she got registered to start at the SINEM he died, so that was very hard for her family since he was the one that took her and picked her up. They were worried about transportation-how she was going to get there?

Montserrat Calvo

One of the most difficult things about playing the tuba was the change to the college level. Before that, she studied at the pre-college level for three years. Some of her classmates ignored her; she had to talk to the band director so they would take her seriously and some of them even took away her instrument and did not let her practice after hours. They always talked among themselves behind her back. She did not feel respected.

One of the best experiences that Montserrat had with the tuba was when she played a recital to enter into college with a fine pianist. Another great experience with the tuba was when she took a master class with Sam Pilafian. She felt shocked, but he encouraged her and told everybody else "she was the competition among all of them, they have to watch out for her!" That was great, and she is currently a student at the University of Costa Rica, where she plays in the band and performs with Lilum Brass, Mulier Brass. Montserrat has also studied voice for about five years.

Natália Porto Coimbra - Euphonium - Brazil

I started playing the euphonium in my school band when I was 12 years old. I wanted to play saxophone, but there weren't any available so the band conductor told me that the euphonium was a good instrument for me, and I fell in love.

Natália Porto Coimbra

My dad and my grandfather were musicians, so I had no issues with them accepting the instrument. They liked music and my mom was working with theatre, so she liked it as well. Although my family always supported me, finding a teacher was difficult and so was being a woman playing that instrument. I have a bachelor's degree in music specializing in trombone from the Federal University of Minas Gerais Brazil. My best experience playing the euphonium was when I participated in a tuba and euphonium conference in Argentina organized by Patricio Consentino with amazing teachers such as Øystein Baadsvik and Steven Mead.

At first it was difficult to perform in professional bands because the men do not call or invite women to play, even though I sometimes played better than them, but I started creating my own spaces and being recognized. I work in the Banda Sinfónica do Corpo de Bombeiros Militar de Minas Gerais-my state's firefighter's Symphonic Band-and I currently play in Orisun (tuba, euphonium and percussion trio), Bora! (clarinet, euphonium and percussion trio), Magnólia (second line band), Luz de Tiêta (all-women´s band tribute to Caetano Veloso), Unión Latina (salsa band) and I play in many carnival blocos (traditional Brazilian music) and freelance. If I did not play the euphonium and the trombone I would like to play bass, tuba or baritone saxophone.

Helen Rubí Cerrato Morales - Tuba - Panamá

Helen started playing the tuba when she was fifteen years old at the school Instituto Fermín Nodó with Professor Ronaldo Ceville in Panamá City. She really started playing clarinet, but she changed to the tuba. She really wanted to play the tuba at first, but everybody was telling her that that instrument was too big for her and that she should start with something smaller. The tuba caught her attention because it was low and a challenge for her. Her family was surprised because they saw it as a huge instrument, and heavy. In school she has had difficulties because there is only one tuba and she does not have enough time to practice everything she needs to practice since they have to share the instrument. Helen participated in a brass conference that was held in El Salvador. She belongs to the National Orchestra net and she performs in the Band of the Instituto Nacional.

Helen Rubí Cerrato Morales

Silvia Torres - Tuba - Argentina

Silvia started playing the tuba at the Instituto Superior de Música of the State Department when she was about 12 years old. Her first teacher was Juan Bautista Cardoso. She picked the tuba because she wanted to move away from the common parameters and she had no idea what the tuba was. She asked her mom to register her as a tuba player without very much idea of what she was getting into. Her family was surprised because she was very tiny, not too tall, and they said the instrument does not go with your physical appearance, but they did not try to convince her to play something else. She had to find a way to overcome technical difficulties to be able to make a good sound with the instrument.

Silvia Torres

One of Silvia's most wonderful experiences was when she was performing while pregnant and her baby moved inside her like he was dancing.

Katherine Sanchez - Tuba - Colombia

Katherine started playing the tuba when she was 12 years old in a public school. In secondary school she started in the band, initially because there was no available instrument other than the tuba. She started with the mouthpiece and saw results in a week. As time passed, she was more and more interested in the sound. To her, it was easy. They formed a children's band and she started playing there.

Katherine's mom did not know what the tuba was; when she found out she was not very happy, but she supported Katherine anyway. In general, the reactions were of surprise because seeing a woman play the tuba was very rare. The main difficulty she faced when she decided to play the tuba was the tuba itself because the financial situation in Colombia is not great. To buy an instrument was very expensive, so she had to ask to borrow instruments for a long time before she could have her own. The time to travel from her house to other places where she could practice, and carrying the instrument in a bus or train was also a challenge. Thanks to her husband, she has managed to have her own tuba.

Katherine studied in the District University of Bogota with the tubist of The Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, Juan Erney Sepúlveda, for seven years. She was the first woman tubist to graduate from this university and also the first person in her family to graduate from college.

Katherine teaches at the Banda Sinfónica del Colegio, where they started an Orchestra web to encourage children in public schools to study music. With this band they participated in several competitions and district conferences; on one occasion they won second place. These conferences connect them with other organizations that strive to help public school children as well.

Katherine participates in the University Band and the Band of Facatativá, which won first prize in the Bambuco Inédito competition. She was in the Orchestra of the Foundation Youth Orchestra of Colombia, her first orchestral experience. She was also part of the University Symphony Orchestra and a fiestera band, with which she played Colombian folk music. She has played in a tuba quartet with percussion. Last year she played with the Bogotá Metropolitan Orchestra, and right now she plays with the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra. She would like to learn to play the electric bass.

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