The Hillyer Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Dirk Hillyer, will present a program of magnificent music at Holiday Pops 2024. The event, hosted by Marblehead Harbor Rotary, will take place on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Abbot Hall.
The featured guest soloist is Andrew Scoglio, a baritone well known locally as the soloist and section leader for the Old North Festival Chorus in Marblehead. Scoglio also serves as the lead teacher for the performing and applied arts at Marblehead High School and Veterans Middle School.
The evening begins at 7 p.m. with a champagne reception catered by Louise Moore’s Every Little Breeze Catering, with beverages provided by North Shore Bartending Services. The concert follows at 8 p.m.
About Maestro Dirk Hillyer
Dirk Hillyer’s musical career began in his hometown of Portland, Ore., where he conducted and won awards for productions such as “West Side Story,” “The Music Man” and “Threepenny Opera.” He was honored four times with the Oregon Theater Award for best conducting and, in 1996, received Massachusetts’ highest arts honor, the Commonwealth Award.
Hillyer toured Europe in his 20s, performing on horn in renowned venues across the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal and Israel. Upon returning to the United States, he performed at Washington National Cathedral and New York’s Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center). In Boston, his work with Arthur Fiedler at Symphony Hall inspired his future in pops conducting.
Hillyer has conducted workshops at Carnegie Hall alongside legends like Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez. His versatility extends to jazz and rock, often performing and recording with the Jazz Composers Alliance at Berklee College of Music. In 2013, he toured with the Prague Jazz Fest throughout the Czech Republic and southern Germany. For two years, he conducted Disney-In-Concert performances featuring classics such as “Frozen,” “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins.”
In 2022, Hillyer performed in the Boston Lyric Opera’s Pulitzer Prize-winning production of “Omar.” A prominent figure on Boston’s North Shore, he was recently named conductor of the Merrimac Valley Philharmonic, a 70-piece classical ensemble. Hillyer has led his orchestra for over 26 years and has performed more than 400 times as a tenured member of the Boston Lyric Opera under conductors like Keith Lockhart and David Angus.
Hillyer holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University and two additional degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Ticket Information
Floor tickets for Holiday Pops 2024 are sold out, but balcony tickets are still available for $45. Tickets can be purchased at RotaryClubofMheadHarbor.org or in person at Arnould Gallery and Framery, 111 Washington St., Marblehead. Seating is limited.
Raffle tickets are also available for this year’s Holiday Pops signature art, “Abbot Hall” by Ian Sherwin, as well as notecards featuring the artwork. These can be purchased through the Rotary Club website or at Arnould Gallery and Framery.
For more information, visit RotaryClubofMheadHarbor.org.