“Around the world and back again” might be the best phrase to describe the award-winning Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble. After a busy concert season, the group returns to Wattenbarger Auditorium for an 8 p.m. concert tomorrow.

Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble

The TTTE pioneered tuba chamber music, and the student ensemble — under the direction of Professor R. Winston Morris — this year won an Academic Excellence and Quality Award from the Tennessee Board of Regents.

The TBR is the nation’s sixth largest higher education system, and the award is given to highlight campus initiatives for excellence. Of the 15 TBR Academic Excellence and Quality Awards given to date, the TTTE is the first performing music ensemble to ever receive the distinction.

Praised by professional tuba and euphonium players, music educators and professional critics alike, the ensemble presents a distinctive sound, and numerous composers have written pieces specifically for the TTTE.

The group is the only ensemble of its kind to perform at Carnegie Hall, and it’s made an unprecedented six appearances at the New York venue. The TTTE has also performed at New Orleans’ famed Preservation Hall, the Smithsonian Institute and Walt Disney World.

Tomorrow night's program includes “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss, “Petits Litanies de Jesus” by Gabriel Grovlez, “Andante and Hungarian Rondo” by Carl Maria v. Weber, “Londonderry Air,” featuring Bryce Edwards as a guest euphonium soloist, and “Groove,” an original composition by the TTTE’s own Jesse Chavez.

The concert is free and open to the public.