Tuba Christmas is a tradition, founded by
Harvey G. Phillips, that was begun on Sunday, December 22, 1974, when over 300
tuba and
euphonium players gathered on the Ice Rink Stage of
Rockefeller Center to honor the memory of
William J. Bell (born on
Christmas Day, 1902), and to celebrate his achievements as a performer and teacher. American
composer Alec Wilder (who died on
Christmas Eve, 1980) contributed arrangements of several classic
christmas carols for tuba and euphonium. Since 1974, it's become a tradition in several cities throughout the world, and is really a nice
concert to listen to, if one happens to be playing near you.
(The above was taken, largely, from my own little copy of "Carols for a Merry Tubachristmas" from the Mizzou tubachristmas of 2000.)