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Experience an electrifying evening of jazz with 2026 Grammy Award-winning pianist and organist Matthew Whitaker. Whitaker leads his quintet in a vibrant program showcasing his awe-inspiring talent, energetic stage presence, virtuosic musicianship, adventurous approach, dazzling technique, improvisation, and distinctive contemporary sound.
Back at SPAC following his 2022 debut at the Saratoga Jazz Festival, Whitaker returns for the first installment of the McCormack Jazz Series at the newly renovated Spa Little Theater. The annual jazz-centric series honors “Saratoga’s Champion of Jazz,” Don McCormack, and his family.
Matthew Whitaker is a Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, composer, and arranger, and an Emmy and NAACP Image Award-nominated artist. His passion for music began at age three, when his grandfather gifted him a keyboard. He has performed on television programs including Showtime at the Apollo, the Today Show, Ellen, and 60 Minutes.
Whitaker starred in, produced, and scored the Emmy-nominated All-Arts documentary “About Tomorrow.” He composed the score for the film “Starkeisha,” now streaming on Hulu, and contributed to the Emmy-winning Apple TV commercial “The Greatest.” In 2023, he made his musical director debut with the award-winning musical “Billy Strayhorn: Something to Live For,” which premiered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He has appeared as a guest soloist with orchestras and symphonies including the Aspen Chamber Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and the Bella Music Foundation at UNESCO House in Paris. He composed a work for the 82-piece Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, featured in “About Tomorrow.” For Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 2024–2025 season, he created the score “Finding Free,” choreographed by Hope Boykin, which premiered in New York City and toured nationally. His collaborators include Jon Batiste, Christian McBride, Derrick Hodge, Bootsy Collins, Ray Chew, Regina Carter, and Anderson Paak. He also performed at the 2024 Paralympics Handover Ceremony.
Whitaker won a 2026 Grammy Award as an arranger on “Super Mario Praise Break” with the 8-Bit Big Band; the group’s album featuring the song was also nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. He is a three-time recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award and has released four studio albums: “Outta The Box,” “Now Hear This,” “Connections,” and “On Their Shoulders: An Organ Tribute” (2024). The latter, dedicated to his organ heroes, was nominated for Outstanding Jazz Album at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards.
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Whitaker is committed to music’s power to connect people and believes every child deserves access to music education. When not touring, he teaches piano, music theory, jazz ensembles, and choirs as Artist in Residence at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He also advocates for people with disabilities and consults with companies to improve accessibility.