Hillyer Festival Orchestra Featured at Holiday Pops in Marblehead December 10

Maestro Dirk Hillyer and The Hillyer Festival Orchestra will take the stage of historic Abbot Hall for a magnificent evening of music and song at the 19th Annual Holiday Pops Concert on Saturday, Dec. 10, presented by the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor.

The evening will begin at 7 p.m. with a Dessert Reception for all ticket holders. The concert will begin promptly at 8 p.m.

This year’s concert music program is inspired by the joy of the holidays and will feature sing-alongs and solo selections performed by Rebecca Robbins.

Originally established in 1998 as a holiday ensemble for the city of Peabody, the Hillyer Festival Orchestra has since established itself as one of Greater Boston’s most popular orchestras, recognized for its quality and creative programming.

In addition to performances for the Essex National Commission at the Hynes Auditorium and the Great Waters Music Festival in Wolfeboro, N.H., it was a part, for 5 years, of the WCRB Summer Concert Series at Boston’s Hatch Shell and continues to be the main event at Salem’s annual 30,000 person strong Fourth of July festivities.

Hillyer holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University and 2 additional degrees from The New England Conservatory of Music.

Maestro Hillyer has become a highly recognized figure in the Boston area in his own right and is now conducting nationally. For two years Disney-in-Concert sent him to Texas on four occasions, as well as Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington, D.C.

Hillyer comes by his love of music naturally. His father had a jazz band in college and his mother sang light opera. Hillyer picked up the French horn at age 12 and was playing with the Portland (Oregon) Youth Philharmonic by 13. After winning a state contest at 16, he headed to Europe with the orchestra, playing solos throughout the tour.

When he isn’t conducting his own orchestra or playing French horn for The Boston Lyric Opera, Hillyer can be found at Salem State University, where he is a tenured professor of music.

Hillyer’s connections with the Boston and New York music and theater scenes enable him to find soloists of exceptional talent. Past Holiday Pops soloists have performed with the revered Boston Pops and have sung with Opera Boston and other prestigious organizations.

Concert floor tickets are $60 each and available exclusively by mail through the order form published in The Marblehead Reporter on November 10 or through the downloadable order form at www.rcomh.org.

Balcony tickets are $35 each and available on-line at www.rcomh.org or in person in Marblehead at Arnould Gallery and Framery, 111 Washington Street; Marblehead Bank, 21 Atlantic Avenue; National Grand Bank, 91 Pleasant Street; and, Spirit of ’76 Bookstore, 107 Pleasant Street.

Other items besides the concert tickets can also be purchased by mail. Raffle tickets for an opportunity to win Susan j Schrader’s original Holiday Pops logo painting, “Marblehead Nights” framed by Arnould Gallery and Framery, are available at $5 each or three raffle tickets for $10 and at the ticket outlets. Giclee prints of the art measuring 16” x 16” and signed by the artist are $65 each. Notecards featuring the artwork are available in packages of 10 cards for $15. Tote bags are $15.

Proceeds from the concert will benefit the scholarships and philanthropic projects of The Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor.

For more information about the concert, visit www.rcomh.org or contact Diane Barbour at dbarbour16@aol.com or at 781-631-0074.