“A Peter White Christmas” Returns for 20th Anniversary!
Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest is excited to welcome back Peter White for its annual Holiday Show.
“A Peter White Christmas 2023 with Mindi Abair and Vincent Ingala” will take the Miller Center for the Arts stage on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m.
Online ticket sales for the holiday show begin Thursday, June 1 at www.berksarts.org/holiday-kickoff
The White holiday concert is part of the second annual Berks Arts Holiday Kickoff, which also features multiple opportunities for jazz fans to connect and celebrate the season and their love for jazz, featuring additional activities throughout the day:
Arts Advocate+ presale for 2024 Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest tickets at DoubleTree by Hilton Reading.
wineandjazz.com Afternoon Wine Tasting hosted by Mindi Abair and Eric Guerra in the Amphitheater at DoubleTree by Hilton Reading.
Al “DJ ACT” Taylor hosts a post-holiday concert party in DoubleTree Cheers Lounge.
Peter White, a world-renowned acoustic jazz guitarist, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his coast-to-coast touring Christmas show. Since the first show in 2003, which featured Abair and Rick Braun, he has brought a variety of musical collaborators to Reading. With its 13th stop in Reading, the tour has become an important part of the Christmas season for Berks Jazz Fest fans.
Prior to beginning his show, White had toured as part of the Dave Koz Christmas tour from 1998 to 2003. He decided at that time to travel with a smaller group and perform in more intimate settings with less production than the Koz shows.
White says one of his favorite aspects of the tour is having the audience sing along.
“As a child, my father taught me to play Christmas music on my first instrument, the recorder, and my love for Christmas music has endured throughout the years,” he said. “I hope this tour will be an opportunity for many Smooth Jazz fans to enjoy their favorite Christmas songs in a family setting. You know, I might even bring my recorder!”
Abair, who has performed many times at Berks Jazz Fest and the Reading Blues Fest, is an influential, multi-genre saxophonist/singer/songwriter. She brought her own “I Can’t Wait for Christmas” Tour to the 2022 BJF Holiday Show last December, along with Ingala, Lindsey Webster, and Adam Hawley.
Abair’s most recent release, “Forever” (2022), features 10 new songs and is her first since the Grammy-nominated “Wild Heart” (2014). She is an unabashed Christmas lover and is happy to be reunited with White and Ingala, whom she calls “the most talented guy you can imagine.”
Ingala, whose charismatic saxophone playing is only the tip of the iceberg of instruments he can play, released his seventh album, “Fire & Desire” in 2021. On it, he plays every instrument on all nine original compositions and his arrangement of “Disco Sax.” Another song from the album, “On the Move,” became his most recent No. 1 airplay hit.
“I can vividly remember not being able to fall asleep waiting for Santa Claus to arrive on Christmas Eve,” Ingala said. “I would sneak downstairs multiple times with my flashlight to get a sneak peek before the sun would rise on Christmas morning! Memories like these . . . are what makes Christmas a very magical time of the year.”
Berks Arts info@berksarts.org
Justin Heimbecker, executive director (610-898-1930)