An Extraordinary Program of Holiday Music featuring Special Guest Stars Vanessa Williams, Michael McDonald, David Sanborn and Actor Ossie Davis, and introducing the artistry of Rob Mathes

"Christmas is Coming," a 60-minute concert special coming to public television this holiday season, features a new view on this traditional holiday with Vanessa Williams, Michael McDonald, David Sanborn, a 16-piece orchestra, 35-member choir, six-piece horn section and an all-star pop band. The stars perform fresh, contemporary arrangements of traditional seasonal songs and original "New Christmas" works by composer/arranger Rob Mathes. Mathes's holiday inspirations are already the stuff of music-insider legend, having scored Grammy nods for artists as diverse as Vanessa Williams and country music's Kathy Mattea.

The concert, recorded live, in an intimate theater awash in the high-tech glow of spectacular "rock-show" lighting, captures the true spirit of the season -- from gospel-chorus exuberance to string-lush moments of reflection. International star of music, stage and screen Vanessa Williams, glittering in gold, launches this "new view of Christmas" with a hip-grooved "Angels We Have Heard On High" and the energy never wanes. Ex-Doobie Brothers signature vocalist Michael McDonald, in a rare, live solo performance, "testifies" in a rocking "Go Tell It on the Mountain," and captivatingly revisits the classic "Silent Night."

David Sanborn raises the roof with a jump tempo, big-band explosion of "Mary Had a Baby," then lowers it in a debut performance, with Mathes on vocals, of the achingly tender "Sweet Little Baby Boy."

The broadcast also includes renowned actor Ossie Davis, breathing new life into the streetwise Christmas message of esteemed black poet Langston Hughes. The rocking band behind it all includes "Letterman" show bassist Will Lee, "Saturday Night Live" drummer Shawn Pelton and Bashiri Johnson, the percussionist behind the rhythms of Madonna and Michael Jackson.

Rob Mathes is one of the music world's most versatile and talented rising stars. In June, Mathes returned to Luciano Pavarotti's hometown of Modena, Italy, for his second year as the singer's right-hand man for the "War Child" benefit concert, to air on public television this fall.

For this year's Grammy celebration, Mathes teamed on stage with Babyface and Stevie Wonder to give the duo's passionate "How Much, How Long," an orchestral and gospel choir jolt.

The Mathes composition "Want You, Miss You, Love You" was recently recorded by Latin crossover sensation Jon Secada for the soundtrack of the upcoming Sony Pictures release, "Just Dance."

Mathes collaborated with Vanessa Williams as her musical director and duet partner for her first-ever-international tour. His composition "Star Bright" is the title track to her Grammy-nominated, top-selling 1996 holiday CD. When he soloed following his appearance with Williams on the Rosie O'Donnell show, O'Donnell proclaimed "Watch for Rob Mathes, folks: This guy is going to be a big star." 

"Christmas Is Coming" is a production of EagleVision, Inc., in association with Lark International.

EagleVision, Inc., an independent video and television production company based in Stamford, Connecticut, has produced a wide variety of entertainment and other programming for such outlets as PBS, NBC, ESPN, the Discovery Channel, and many international broadcast outlets. In May 1997, EagleVision produced, with WNET-TV, "Jack Paar: As I Was Saying …,"an AMERICAN MASTERS special. The critically acclaimed program became one of the highest-rated specials in public television history. In 1995, EagleVision produced Mathes's "I Want To Hear the Bells." Lark International is a consortium of four public television stations (Detroit, Seattle, St. Louis and Houston) best known for bringing quality programming, like the runaway success "Riverdance," to U.S. television audiences.

"Christmas is Coming"