CLASSICS AT THE MOVIES

Dr. Dirk Hillyer is a highly recognized figure on Boston’s North Shore who has performed nationally as a musician/conductor/horn player/mentor. He has varied experiences from the classical genre to “pops” music of Broadway and Film.  This experience led Hillyer to conduct Disney’s DISNEY-IN-CONCERT which took 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.

His Hillyer Festival Orchestra (HFO) is locally in the limelight with over 200 performances in Marblehead, Salem, Danvers, Peabody, Lynn, Swampscott, Gloucester, Northborough, Chelmsford, Boston, and beyond. Salem’s July 4thconcert alone attracts 30,000-40,000 people each year! Recently, the HFO opened the Pops season in Wolfeboro, NH to a rousing reception. Additionally, this orchestra, comprised of some of the best pops players in the Boston area and played Boston’s Hatch Shell on the Esplanade five years in a row.

Hillyer holds a PhD from Tufts University with two additional degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music.

Ben DiScipio is an accomplished singer, pianist, conductor and music director. He has sung frequently with the Hillyer Festival Orchestra, and the choral group Ben conducts recently performed on a tour of Ireland.

After finishing his undergraduate studies in Political Science and Music at the College of the Holy Cross, Ben studied orchestral and choral conducting in graduate studies at New England Conservatory and Boston University. Ben also studied voice in the Opera Studio at New England Conservatory. In addition to his work in business, Ben has performed throughout the world as a conductor, pianist and solo vocalist.

In addition to music, Ben is also an actor. He has twice been nominated for an IRNE (Independent Reviewers of New England) award for Best Actor in a musical. He won the award in 2009 for portraying the title role in Sweeney Todd at the Metro Stage Company in Cambridge. He has performed with Lyric Stage of Boston, Gloucester Stage Company, Reagle Players, and many other organizations throughout the East Coast.