Something about that gleaming, golden instrument pulled the teenaged Tyler Benedict forward like a magnet.
“The richness of the sound, and the physical connection to the music — it is an instrument where you feel fully engaged, where your whole body becomes part of the sound,” said Benedict, who was in middle school when he took up the tuba.
It was Crescent School band teacher John Kilzer who handed his student a tuba one day. The son of a trumpet player, Benedict had always loved the sound of brass. So his life in music began, taking him across the United States, to the University of Washington for two music degrees, and to the stage this week for concerts in Sequim and Port Angeles as the featured soloist.
Benedict will join the Port Angeles Symphony Chamber Orchestra, conducted by his longtime colleague Jonathan Pasternack, for two evenings of music from northerly climes.
“This is melodious and beautiful music, to warm the soul during these cold winter months,” said Pasternack.
The orchestra will perform the Concerto for Tuba and Strings by Norwegian composer Arild Plau, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus, and Edvard Grieg’s Suite from Holberg’s Time. The concerts will bring together 25 string players plus harpist Ellie Yamanaka, the conductor noted. And along with tuba soloist Benedict, violinist Jory Noble and violist Tyrone Beatty have lustrous solo turns.
The performances, the orchestra’s first of 2026, will take place:
Friday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 Lopez in Port Angeles;
Saturday at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave. in Sequim.
Both concerts begin at 7 p.m., with tickets available at https://portangelessymphony.org and at the door. More information is also at the Port Angeles Symphony office at 360-457-5579 and pasymphony@olypen.com.
These are occasions Pasternack has envisioned for some time: concerts featuring one of the many players raised on the Olympic Peninsula and who went on to careers of making music.
Pasternack, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Benedict, who graduated from Port Angeles High School, are both alumni of the University of Washington. Both are part of the Sequim City Band in a role reversal: Benedict is the band’s music director for the past 13 years while Pasternack plays trombone and percussion.
Benedict said the thing he looks forward to most about this week’s concerts is playing music for his home community — “it’s an honor,” he said.
Performing as the tuba soloist with the Port Angeles Symphony Chamber Orchestra and leading the Sequim band, Benedict added, call on him in different ways.
“As the director of the Sequim City Band, my focus is on the bigger picture, thinking about the ensemble, choosing music that is meaningful for both the audience and the musicians, and of course leading rehearsals and performances. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into making it all come together,” he said.
“As a performer in an orchestra on the other hand, I get to focus entirely on the music — no words, just music in the moment and how my part fits in the larger picture of the ensemble.”
For the chamber concerts coming up, the tuba player and the conductor made a discovery: the 1990 Plau concerto, written in sonata form.
“The piece highlights the tuba’s lyrical tone, which is exactly what I was looking for. I am excited to share something new not only for myself, but for the audience as well,” Benedict said.
“Music has given me incredible opportunities,” he added. Through every concert runs a current of inspiration: the people beside him, and their shared experience of making music together.
