Rob Mathes Holiday Concert Is Back For 2022

GREENWICH, CT — The annual Rob Mathes Holiday Concert is back live and in-person this year at The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. Two shows will be presented on Friday, Dec. 16, and Saturday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. Tickets are available through artscenter.org.

He is usually the man behind the music, producing albums, arranging and orchestrating, and is a sought-after music director. His annual holiday concert, a holiday tradition in the New York City/Connecticut area for 29 years, is his time to take center stage to the delight of his many fans.

"After two years of COVID, so many are grateful for the return of live music," Mathes said in a news release.

"We are desperate for it; I know I am. To be back performing live at The Performing Arts Center at Purchase is a gift. I cannot wait for this year’s concerts. We filmed the holiday concert the last two years at a church in Old Greenwich and that was great, but a live audience is everything," Mathes added. "The live concert dynamic is so powerful and the audience are half of it. My whole band and choir will be back and we will be rockin’ the house, ringing in the Holiday like nobody’s business."

The Rob Mathes Holiday Concert puts a new, intensely musical spin on a holiday concert. Featuring some of New York’s finest musicians, it is an eclectic evening of high-energy pop, jazz, and rhythm and blues, with original holiday songs and many newly arranged classics.

Joining Mathes on stage is his all-star band with a six-piece horn section featuring Jeff Kievit on trumpet; Will Lee from the "Late Show with David Letterman"; and The Fab Faux on bass; Billy Masters on guitar; Gunnar Olsen on percussion; Rick Knutsen on keyboards; and James "D Train" Williams and Vaneese Thomas, two local legends who sing R&B and gospel and who have stolen the show for the better part of two decades. Also performing with Mathes is a 40 voice choir.

This year's concert benefits the nonprofit Food Rescue US - Fairfield County, which uses its proprietary online and app technology as a platform for volunteer food rescuers to directly transfer excess food from local businesses and restaurants to social service agencies that feed the food insecure. Food Rescue US - Fairfield County has provided 30-plus million meals to individuals who are food insecure in our community while keeping 41-plus million pounds of excess food out of landfills.

"I really can’t wait to be back on stage at The Performing Arts Center," Mathes added. "It is my ‘home away from home.’ For myself and my incredibly loyal fans, all of whom are family at this point, the Holiday Concert helps kick-off the holiday season. Many have said to me, ‘It isn’t the holidays without your concert.’ That means so much to me and I don’t take it lightly. We’ll be bringing our all to the PepsiCo Theater at The Performing Arts Center Friday and Saturday nights."

To purchase tickets for the Rob Mathes Holiday Concert, visit artscenter.org. To learn more about Mathes, visit his website, follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and on YouTube.

The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College (The PAC), is a four theatre complex located on the campus of Purchase College, SUNY, and is the major professional, nonprofit arts presenter in the southeastern New York and southwestern Connecticut region.

For more than 40 years, The PAC has been the hub of a creative community that brings together internally acclaimed artists and rising stars, creative practitioners, civic and academic leaders, community activists, and an inspirational array of loyal volunteers and friends who recognize the power of investing in the performing arts to spark creativity and connection.

To learn more about The PAC, visit artscenter.org or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.