The largest collection of tuba-related items and art in the world is on display in the Tennessee Tech Regions Bank Building on historic Broad Street in Cookeville. The R. Winston Morris Tuba Collection Exhibit represents 50 years of acquisitions, in excess of 2,500 pieces, and has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest collection of its type in existence.
Professor R. Winston Morris, the internationally renowned elder statesman of the tuba/euphonium world, has been heading the tuba studio in the Department of Music at Tennessee Tech since 1967, when he founded the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble (TTTE) now the most recorded ensemble of its kind in the world.
In the early 1970s, a student presented Morris with a small, lead figurine of a soldier playing a tuba. That single piece began a decades-long search with Morris and his students finding and collecting items representing the instruments of the tuba family and its history.
When Professor Morris decided to donate the figurines and art works to Tech, we were very enthused about the opportunity to bring this special collection to the community, said Kevin Braswell, vice president for University Advancement.
With the opening of this unique exhibit on Cookeville s historic West Side, Tennessee Tech celebrates not only the rich history of tuba music and the passion that Professor Morris has brought to us through his collection, but also the longevity and spirit of his impact on and relationships with his students, and TTTE over the past 50 years.
Under the direction of R. Winston Morris, the TTTE has produced more than 27 recordings, some recent recordings were submitted and accepted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to be included on its Grammy Entry List. They appeared eight times in New York s Carnegie Hall, at two World s Fairs, have a long history of performances from Preservation Hall in New Orleans, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The ensemble has represented Tennessee Tech at numerous national and international conference engagements, and is responsible for the composition and arrangement of more music for the tuba than any other single source.
I have had and currently have the distinct pleasure of teaching and training some of the finest young musicians around. They have gone on to exceptional careers in the performance and music education fields, said Professor Morris. This collection is a testament to those more than 350 students who contributed, and continue to contribute, so much to the tuba program, the ensemble, and inspire such growth in the perception of music for the tuba.
I would like to add that a recent Facebook interview about the collection, conducted by Guinness World Records, has had more than 130,000 views, grinned Morris.
Recently representatives of city organizations gathered with Tennessee Tech personnel for an advanced tour the R. Winston Morris Tuba Collection Exhibit. Pictured are (front, from left) George Halford, Cookeville-Putnam Co. Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau; Megan Atkinson, Tech Archivist; Beth Thompson, City of Cookeville Museums Manager; Tracey Duncan, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations; Gina Padgett, Assistant Director Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving; Morgan Gilbert, HomeCORR; Laura Wolf, CityScape; (back, from left) Glenn Jones, Putnam County Archivist; Dwight Henry, Cookeville City Council; Charles McAdams, Provost at Delta State University and Tech Alumni Chair, R. Winston Morris Tuba Exhibit; Adam Ryan, HomeCORR; Wendy Mullen, Chair of Music Department; Tiff Rector, Tennessee Tech Associate Vice President; Randy Porter, Putnam Co. Executive; John Smith, Executive Director University Advancement; Bahman Ghorashi, Tech Provost; R. Winston Morris, Professor of Music; Kevin Braswell, Vice President for University Advancement.
Tennessee Tech University and R. Winston Morris invite you and your family to visit this world-record-holding collection on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Tennessee Tech Regions Bank Building located at 10 W. Broad Street in Cookeville. Admission is free. For more information call 931-372-3206.
