As of: February 3, 2024, 7:00 a.m
By: Doris Schmid
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Plays in the Tölz town band: 19-year-old Maria Steinbacher from Reichersbeuern is happy to see more and more women playing the tuba.
© Arndt Pröhl
The tuba is instrument of the year: It has numerous supporters in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district - including Münsing's mayor Michael Grasl.
He has been playing the tuba since he was a teenager.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – As a soloist she often leads a shadowy existence.
However, it is hard to imagine a wind orchestra without it.
Now the tuba has been named instrument of the year with its soft, dark and rich sound - a deep brass instrument that also has numerous fans in the district.
Full, round and “really cool”: This mayor plays the instrument of the year
One of the youngest is nine-year-old Peter.
“I saw brass players on the Königsdorfer Alm and thought they were really cool,” says the boy from Geretsried.
“That sounded nice.” He has been taking lessons for three years.
Because he can't yet grasp the valves of the large tuba very well, he is learning eufonium at the Geretsried music school - as the only one out of a total of 1,400 students.
The nine-year-old likes the instrument “because it shines so beautifully and makes such beautiful sounds.”
He already plays in an orchestra.
I was totally thrilled, it was love at first sight.
Münsing's town hall boss Michael Grasl
Michael Grasl has been loyal to the tuba for 40 years.
Although it didn't look like it at first.
Münsing's mayor began his musical career at a young age classically with piano and church organ.
At that time he attended the music school in Starnberg and got his parents to allow him to learn a brass instrument.
This has “always fascinated” the 56-year-old.
When the junior orchestra was looking for a tuba player, Grasl's hour came.
“I was totally thrilled,” he remembers, “it was love at first sight.” With a student instrument under his arm, he rode home on his bike and practiced.
This chance acquaintance developed into a fulfilling relationship.
Practice makes perfect: Münsing's mayor Michael Grasl with his tuba in his garden in the 1980s.
© Private
Even though Michael Grasl currently only plays in small ensembles and helps out in two music bands in his community, he still has a lot of fun blowing the tuba and it is a nice balance to his work as head of the town hall.
The previous prejudice that only tall, fat people could play the tuba has long since been refuted.
In his eyes, the instrument has evolved: “It’s cool and contemporary” and is on trend.
Grasl refers to successful bands like “LaBrassBanda”.
And: A tuba player, with all his peace and quiet, must “always be fully present on the number one” together with the drummer as the rhythm provider.
Otherwise the whole orchestra sounds broad and slow.”
As a girl, I had extreme respect for the instrument.
Maria Steinbacher
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One of the few women who discovered the tuba is Maria Steinbacher, at the instrument carousel for the wind orchestra at her former school in Lenggries.
The woman from Reichersbeur attended the Hohenburg Castle girls' secondary school.
The 19-year-old can remember that day well: “I came home happy.” Steinbacher was actually interested in playing the flute or clarinet.
But she lost her heart to the tuba.
“As a girl, I had extreme respect for the instrument,” says the social work student.
“But I couldn’t really do anything wrong.” She blew into it and was probably doing a pretty good job of it.
In any case, the music teacher confirmed that she had a talent for the tuba.
19-year-old is happy to see more and more women playing the tuba
She has now been playing the instrument for eight years.
She had high standards for herself, practiced a lot and took lessons in Munich, says Steinbacher, who plays in the Tölz city band - with three male tuba players.
Sometimes the woman from Reichersbeur wonders whether she would have chosen the instrument if there had been boys at her school.
Because the gender stereotype has not yet been broken.
“But there are more and more women playing the tuba.”
By the way: In 2018, 835 tuba players (aged 11 to 86) made it into the Guinness Book of Records when they gathered in the US city of Kansas City and played Christmas carols together.
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