Matt Catingub

Pops Conductor

Multi-talented musician Matt Catingub wears many hats: woodwind artist, conductor, pianist, vocalist, performer, composer and arranger. Born to parents of Polynesian island decent, he is the son of the great jazz vocalist Mavis Rivers. Mavis, born in Samoa and affectingly known as “Polynesia’s First Lady of Song,” performed regularly with her son at her side until the day of her passing in 1992. Closely related to Hawaii and the South Pacific, her influence on Matt – culturally and musically – will always be strong.

It was evident at an early age that music was to be Matt’s life. At age seven he began sitting at the piano teaching himself songs, the start of his largely self-taught education in music. By 16, he began emphasizing the alto sax. Just one year later, Matt was playing his alto at the Monterey Jazz Festival and was asked to travel to Japan along with Dizzy Gillespie, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Sonny Stitt, Ruth Brown and Kenny Burrel.

Matt went on to form the Matt Catingub Big Band and recorded “My Mommy and Me” in 1983 with Mavis. It started a wave of popularity that culminated with a Royal Variety Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip in Mavis’ home country of New Zealand.

To celebrate George Gershwin’s 100th birthday in 1998, Matt released “Gershwin 100.” The CD featured Matt and guest artists Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, John Pizzarelli and Louie Bellson. In 1999, Matt introduced his band Big Kahuna and The Copa Cat Pack, which combines elements of Big Band and Hawaiian “Hapa-Haole” music. CDs include “Sentimental Journey” with Rosemary Clooney, which received a Grammy nomination in 2002.

Matt wrote the music for the George Clooney film, Good Night and Good Luck, and made an on-screen appearance. He also did the arrangements and played tenor sax on the soundtrack, which won a Grammy Award in 2005. That same year he founded the Matt Catingub Orchestra of Hawaii, a 40-piece ensemble entirely composed of local musicians.

Matt, who recently celebrated his 12th anniversary as the conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Pops, has arranged and conducted for a multitude of performers including Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, James Ingram, The Righteous Brothers, Rosemary Clooney, and Toto, among others.

At the Honolulu Symphony Pops, Matt performs and does 90 percent of the arrangements and orchestrations played by the orchestra. A highlight of his tenure with the Pops includes performing with the orchestra at the premiere of the Disney movie Pearl Harbor aboard the U.S.S. John Stennis aircraft carrier, with Faith Hill and Lee Greenwood.