Mateo’s very first organized concerts were simple gatherings of friends and family to various hotel lobbies in downtown Seattle. He would invite them to come hear Christmas carols he would play on the piano. So for his sophomore effort in the symphony hall Mateo orchestrated many of his favorite holiday classics and the concert was a great success. He oringially enlisted the Mercer Island Children’s Choir, but when their director was in an accident he replaced them with 3 sopranos. This gave the album and concert a certain haunting quality that somehow worked very well.