Holiday Pops to feature lyric soloist Katie O'Reilly

Lyric soprano Katie O’Reilly will make her debut with The Hillyer Festival Orchestra at the 17th Annual Holiday Pops Concert on Saturday night, December 13, at Abbot Hall in Marblehead.

The evening of magnificent holiday music presented by The Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor will also feature the Old North Church Youth Choir under the direction of Rebecca Kenneally.

Connecticut-born O’Reilly is an emerging artist in the Boston area who has been praised for her “full, rich” voice and her “marvelous and captivating energy” onstage. She made her Boston debut this past season as Josephine in “HMS Pinafore” with the MIT Gilbert & Sullivan Players, and followed with company debuts with Lowell House Opera (as Rose in “Lakmé”) and MetroWest Opera (as the Sandman in “Hansel and Gretel”).

This fall, O’Reilly’s performances have included a fundraiser recital at St. Mary’s Church in Charlestown, and an appearance as a soloist in the 12th annual Music to Cure MS concert. This November, she appeared in “Hunger, Lies & History: The Dark Comedies,” a showcase of original one-act plays, with Performing Fusion Theatre.

An accomplished pianist, O’Reilly frequently collaborates with area theater companies and youth training groups as a keyboardist, vocal coach, and music director. She has worked for both Mssng Lnks, Inc. and Boston Backyard Opera as a teacher, music director, and vocal mentor.

O’Reilly earned degrees from Oberlin and the Boston Conservatory, and was the winner of the 2013 voice prize at the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy. She also appeared as a contestant on the 25th season of “Jeopardy!”.

O’Reilly’s other upcoming performances include Yum-Yum in “The Mikado” (MITG&SP) and Prilepa in Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades” (Lowell House Opera.) She lives in Somerville, where she maintains a private voice studio. More information is available at her website at www.katieoreilly.com.

The Holiday Pops evening will begin at 7 p.m. with a Dessert Reception for all ticket holders; the concert will begin promptly at 8 p.m. The raffle for Martha Quigley’s original painting, “Snow Shower” will be held the night of the concert during intermission.

Floor tickets are $60 each and available exclusively by mail through the order form in the November 13 issue of The Marblehead Reporter or through the downloadable order form at www.rcomh.org.

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

Raffle tickets for an opportunity to win Quigley’s Holiday Pops logo painting, “Snow Shower,” are available where balcony tickets are sold, at the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor’s table at the Artisans’ Holiday Marketplace during Christmas Walk, and the night of the concert. Giclee prints and notecards featuring the artwork are available online at rcomh.org, at the Artisans’ Holiday Marketplace and the night of the concert.

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

For more information, visit www.rcomh.org or contact Bill Bartin at 781-476-0600 or wbartin@infinexgroup.com.

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