Being the best is a feeling only a few people will experience. Luckily for a junior here,  first chair tuba player Beckham Weatherby, he got the chance of being just that. After a three-year campaign to the top, Weatherby currently sits as the reigning number one tuba player in the state of Oregon.

Weatherby has been playing the tuba since the sixth grade, nearly half a decade. Since middle school, Weatherby loved the tuba for its robust sound. He made the honor band in seventh grade, and by the time he was a freshman, he had made all-state band. 

“All-state band is when all the best players in the state play together in a big band,” Weatherby said. “I just remember being happy to be included.”

Junior Seth Petrarca recalls Weatherbys’ love for music when they played together back in middle school band class. 

“He was definitely a lot better than I was,” Petrarca said. “I always looked up to his playing.”

Also in his freshman year, Weatherby got the unique opportunity to play in the Portland Youth Philharmonic, the first youth orchestra in the country, which he has been a part of ever since. 

“It’s really an honor to be a participant,” Weatherby said.

On top of all his rookie accolades, Weatherby competed with other regional high schoolers at the district solo event, where he placed first. The achievement propelled him to compete at state. At state, he placed third.

Entering his sophomore year, Weatherby got first in district and second in state, but he wasn’t done yet. Junior Brian Cao recalls his impact on the band here.

Cao, who is in his third year of band, is extremely grateful for the addition of Weatherby to the band.   

“I can hear how much effort [Weatherby] puts into the sound of our bass section,” Cao said. “Our band wouldn’t be as good as it is now without our star tuba player.”

In his current junior year, Weatherby took home first in both district and state. Making him in his own words “the best tuba player in Oregon.”