TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2026 

Event poster featuring bold text with the name Matthew Zachary in large white letters, and information about a live performance at Merkin Hall in smaller white and orange letters.

BENEFIT CONCERT
AND BOOK LAUNCH
30 YEARS AFTER CANCER

MUSIC
STORYTELLING
ADVOCACY
COMMUNITY
EDUCATION
ACTION

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2026 

Kaufman Music Center
MERKIN HALL   

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About The Event

Matthew Zachary Live at Merkin Hall is a one night only live benefit concert that blends solo piano performance, storytelling, and lived experience. The evening marks 30 years after Matthew Zachary’s original brain cancer diagnosis and serves as the official launch of his debut book, We the Patients: Understanding, Navigating, and Surviving America's Healthcare Nightmare.

Through original solo piano music, chapter readings, and special guest voices, the program explores what survival actually looks like over time. It honors resilience without sentimentality and community without spectacle. This is not a gala or a lecture. It is a live cultural moment for people who believe art, honesty, and shared experience still have the power to move a room.

About The Book

We the Patients: Understanding, Navigating, and Surviving America’s Healthcare Nightmare is an unfiltered look at what happens when the healthcare system fails real people. It’s a blueprint for fighting back, and a must-read for anyone navigating illness, caregiving, or just trying to stay human in a system that makes that harder and harder for us all. LEARN MORE

“Essential reading.” Jeremy Abbate, Publisher, Scientific American

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Matthew Zachary | American Patient Rights Activist and 30-Year Cancer Survivor

Matthew Zachary | American Patient Rights Activist and 30-Year Cancer Survivor


Matthew Zachary

Matthew Zachary is a concert pianist, brain cancer survivor, and founder of We The Patients, a national patient rights organization focused on power, access, and accountability in American healthcare. Recognized as one of the most influential voices in healthcare, he has built a career at the intersection of art, advocacy, community and consequence.

As creator and host of the award winning Out of Patients podcast and founder of Stupid Cancer, he has spent decades elevating patient voices and challenging institutions to reckon with the people they serve.

This performance brings his story full circle, returning him to the stage to honor survival and the community that made it possible.

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EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

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Founding Chair

GIL BASHE
Chair, Global Health and Purpose
FINN Partners

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Founding Co-Chair

MIKE LUX
Principal
Mike Lux Media

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LAUREN RUOTOLO
Global Patient Advocate
Unstoppable Media

Founding Co-Chair

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JEREMY ABBATE
Publisher
Scientific American

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ANNA STASHOWER
Founder
PM360 Magazine

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BARBARA PALDUS
CEO
Codex Labs

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JANE RUBENSTEIN
National Health Leader
Cancer Research and Advocacy

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RICHARD LIPKIN
Founder
Catalytic Impact Foundation

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PROUD SPONSORS

Pfizer
Blueprint Medicines
Codex Labs
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MEDIA PARTNERS

Scientific American
theSkimm
Everyday Health Group
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8:00 pm

MERKIN HALL 
Kaufman Music Center
129 W 67th Street
New York, NY 10023

Tuesday
April 28th
2026

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