Holden Green, a member of the Class of 2022 at Solanco High School, recently completed his high school musical career on one of the less widely played instruments - the tuba.

His most recent accomplishment prior to graduation was being selected to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) All-State Music Festival held in April at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in the Poconos. Through the audition process, Holden progressed through the district and regional levels before being selected to the state orchestra. Only 16 tuba players are selected for ensembles in the state. Scott Weyman, head of the music department at Solanco, traveled to the festival with Holden.

Playing the tuba runs in the family. Holden's dad, Matt, also played the tuba at the state level in 1990 and 1991.

"I started playing (tuba) the summer before my ninth-grade year of high school," Holden said. "I had always been interested in music. I took piano lessons for a while and joined the chorus in seventh grade at Smith Middle School."

"My dad had always played tuba and he is friends with the band director (at the high school), and they needed some tuba players," he added, noting that his best friend plays the tuba and encouraged him to learn the instrument too.

Holden's dad provided the tuba lessons. "He basically gave me a lesson book and told me the basics and I practiced every day," said Holden, adding that the tuba is a difficult instrument to learn to play. "It takes a lot of air. If you have never been a professional breather, it takes time to get that skill mastered. It takes a lot of air movement. It's 16 feet of tubing that you have to blow through."

Holden became a member of the high school marching band and also continued to sing. He was a member of the chorus all four years of high school and in the select choir, the Chorale.

The Solanco High School marching band performed prior to all home football games and at halftime during away games. The band also took part in local parades and showcases, although many of those events were canceled during the pandemic, when Holden was a sophomore and junior.

He explained that the tuba section of the band provides rhythm and harmony to the music. "The cool thing about marching band is we get a lot of cool riffs. There is a lot of cool harmonies on the tuba," he noted. "You are noticed more if you play a melody instrument, but people look up to you more in the band if you play tuba."

Holden's career in music is not ending with graduation. He plans to attend the Red Wing Campus of Minnesota State College Southeast to learn musical instrument repair. "Before I fell in love with making music, I wanted to be a carpenter," Holden shared. "This combines both aspects of that - working with my hands and music. (Some day), I would like to repair instruments for my high school and have (the school) as one of my customers."