About Us
The mission of the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Society, Inc. is to provide performance and listening opportunities of quality orchestral music for Merrimack Valley musicians and audiences. In addition, we are committed to the nurturing and encouragement of young musicians by providing performance opportunities, training, and scholarships for the advanced study of music.
Special Guest Conductor Dirk Hillyer
Dr. Hillyer is a highly-recognized figure on Boston’s North Shore who, also, performs nationally as musician/conductor/horn player/mentor. Varied experiences from the classical genre to “pops” music of Broadway and Film led to Hillyer’s activity as conductor for Disney’s DISNEY-INCONCERT which has taken him on two national tours. He has conducted the Austin Symphony, members of the Dallas Symphony in this Disney extravaganza, twice the National Symphony Pops at Wolftrap Performing Arts Center, Miami Pops and Philly Pops in the Kimmel Center. Additional dates included Florida, Virginia, Connecticut, and many Massachusetts cities.
Jazz and Rock play a significant part in Dirk’s make-up: he frequently performs and has recorded with the Jazz Composers Alliance at Berklee College of Music and performed the 2013 Prague Jazz Fest that toured throughout the Czech Republic and southern Germany. In 2015 and 2016, Hillyer took the baton for DISNEY-IN-CONCERT engagements featuring all the classics, including “Frozen”, “Lion King”, Mary Poppins and many others.