With horns pointed skyward, Christmas music blasted from the brass bells of the colorfully dressed trombone players on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

While the location had to be moved from Christmas Village to the Platt Performing Arts House, Trombone Christmas’s nationwide initiative to promote fellowship between slide trombone players still rang true.

Assistant Director of the Penn Band Dr. Kushol Gupta led the ensemble in Philadelphia, which included three Strath Haven trombone players.

Second-time participant junior Matteo Ventresca first joined a year ago after seeing a Google Classroom post by band director Mr. Nick Pignataro.

“I decided to just go for it,” Ventresca said. “Playing at Christmas Village was super fun and [the] songs were hard, as they were this year, but it was a good experience.”

Participants rehearse together only for an hour beforehand, but the experience is not solely about the performance.

Ventresca’s favorite moments from Trombone Christmas were made while “spending time with the other trombones from Strath Haven, Zeb and Carson.”

Freshman Zeb Smithey felt that “[the] best part would probably be the energy and everyone’s commitment and how much we just wanted to get together and play music.”

Senior Maxwell Kikkawa was unable to attend this year, but feels that Trombone Christmas is a cannot-miss event next year for anyone interested.

“Trombone Christmas is a fun event with a lot of people who are there to have fun with an instrument that is inherently fun,” he said.

Smithey also has a call to action for next year’s event.

“If you’re a tromboner and you go to Strath Haven, you need to show up to Trombone Christmas, there’s just not enough people who go,” Smithey said.