Johnny Mathis, one of the greatest and most popular singers of our time, performed his last public concert May 18.

Mathis, who was 90 on Sept. 30, had a career of almost 70 years that was consistently strong.

Mathis was one of the few remaining performers who always used a full orchestra in his performances.

In eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the orchestras were put together by Whitehall resident Rob Stoneback.

”The Rob Stoneback Big Band Holiday Concert” is 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13, Roxy Theatre, Northampton.

Stoneback put together the orchestra for Mathis’ final concert May 18 at the Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, N.J.

“It was an honor, but it was very sad,” recalls Stoneback.

Stoneback says Mathis retained his vocal prowess to the end: “He even started hitting higher notes in his later years.” Most singers tend to have a lower range over time.

Stoneback has performed in the Lehigh Valley for decades with his big band, and appeared with his StoneDixie group in May at Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.

Stoneback provided musicians for Mathis for 34 years and worked with him a few times in the Poconos.

“He would even pay out of his own wages to have a full band,” says Stoneback, who has fond memories of Mathis, saying, “He was a nice guy.”

The widely-traveled Mathis, “Couldn’t remember my name, but he would greet me with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. He always had that smile.

“His lineup of songs didn’t change much over the years, but his show was done so well you never got tired of playing with him.”

As with most performers accompanied by an orchestra, Mathis would travel with a conductor and a rhythm section of guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. His contract would specify the number of musicians and what instruments they would play. Rehearsals took place on the day of the show for Mathis.

“That’s why I had to get good people,” Stoneback says during an interview at a Bethlehem restaurant.

Stoneback, who plays trombone, has put together orchestras for many acts at the State Theatre Center for the Arts, Easton, and other venues, including for Frankie Valli, Natalie Cole, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, the Temptations, Tommy Tune, and comedians Don Rickles and Joan Rivers.

For a Wind Creek Events Center “Celtic Women” show, he was tasked with providing 47 musicians.

Stoneback recalls that the only exception for more than one day of rehearsal was the two and a half days he worked with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys for a composition that Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks had written.

Stoneback appeared last year at the Roxy Theatre, Northampton, for a Christmas concert with guest vocalist and saxophonist Erich Cawalla.

Stoneback played Dixieland music with his StoneDixie group at Bethlehem’s College Hill Moravian Church in a concert sponsored by the Pennsylvania Jazz Society.

Dixieland originated in New Orleans. “I must have visited New Orleans at least 40 times when I was a student at LSU [Louisiana State University]. It is a joyful music. If it doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what to say,” says Stoneback.

”The Rob Stoneback Big Band Holiday Concert,” 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13, Roxy Theatre, 2004 Main St., Northampton, 610-262-7699, www.roxytheaternorthampton.com