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.
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 composted of local musicians.
Matt, was formerly the principal Pops conductor for the Honolulu Symphony and the New Mexico Symphony and is currently the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Glendale 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.
A highlight of his career includes performing with the Honolulu Symphony 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.
