Eileen Ivers didn’t live out her childhood fantasy.

“My dream of dreams was to work for NASA,” she said. “I went to Iona and got a degree in mathematics.”

But she never made it to NASA. Instead, Ivers became a world-renown musician, one who is a nine-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion that has played with acts like the London Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. She’s played on soundtracks, with Hall & Oates and for presidents. And during that time, she found that playing music was really what she wanted to do with her life.

“I never dreamt of a career playing music,” she said. “I’m really blessed to do something I love, and something that touches people.”

Ivers, of West Nyack, moved to Rockland from the Bronx and this Sunday at 3 p.m., she’s playing her first-ever show in Pearl River. The Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul Christmas Show will take place at Pearl River High School. The concert is sponsored by ArtsRock and Rockland County Legislator John Murphy and will raise money for the Brest Buddies Campaign Against Cancer. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at www.ArtsRock.org or 866-811-4111.

“It’s not just Christmas songs or Irish songs,” Murphy said. “They’re of a world-class stature and can play music from all over the world.”

The Brest Buddies are a group of 12 women who for the past six years have raised money to participate in the New York City Avon Walk For Breast Cancer, a two-day event in nine locations around the country. To enter the walk, each walker has to raise money that goes to breast cancer research. Murphy said that in their six years, the Brest Buddies have raised over $100,000.

Murphy is expecting more than 500 people Sunday and said he was excited Ivers agreed to perform. He said he’s known her from a while and thinks she’s the best Irish fiddler in the world.

Ivers said she’s thrilled to be playing Pearl River, adding that the show centers around an Irish Christmas, featuring a five-piece band, two Irish step dancers and the Pearl River High School Glee Club.

“When we travel with the show, we ask about local choirs that would be interested in the show because it’s nice to involve local communities as well,” Ivers said.

She said during the show she’s going to speak about some Irish Christmas traditions, including St. Stephen’s Day, which is the day after Christmas. Ivers said growing up her father told her often about St. Stephen’s Day, on which the boys would leave early in the morning to go hunt for a wren, bring one back and dance and sing around. Ivers saidt hat a popular line boys sang was, “Give me a penny to bury the wren."

“The show is very joyous in its nature. Both my parents are from Ireland, so a lot of Irish traditions myself and my sister grew up with are included in the show,” Ivers said. “We go through some traditions that audience might not be too aware of just to vary it up a little bit.”

The show is also sponsored by ArtsRock

“(ArtsRock is a) group of volunteers made up of people who live in the county who present these professional performing arts shows because we think we should,” according to Elliott Forrest, director of ArtsRock.

Their season runs from October through May. Upcoming shows include the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet’s Holiday Concert this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at The First Reformed Church in Nyack, The Bossy Frog Band Annual Family Extravaganza Dec. 29 at 11 a.m. at the Lafayette Theater in Suffern and Suzanne Vega Feb. 3 at Rockland Community College.

“We’re not done programming for the rest of the season,” Forrest said. “We have some surprises.”