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REVIEWS

The Hillyer Festival Orchestra recently performed at the 5th annual Fourth of July celebration on Derby Warf, in Salem MA. Combining a variety of music including opera, classical, swing, broadway, the HFO put on a show that not only dazzled the audience but also paid tribute to the nation's birthday. Towards the end of the night the HFO led the crowd on a Patriotic musical journey as the spectacular fireworks exploded over head as the smoke covered the crowd, the orchestra could be seen through the haze playing until the end. When asked what people thought of the concert one word sums it up....AMAZING!

THE SALEM EVENING NEWS (July 23, 2004) SPECTACULAR FOURTH IN SSALEM

To the Editor:
...The Hillyer Festival Orchestra and guest performers were outstanding. The grand finale was a combination of patriotic music and a wonderful fireworks display. It was like an evening at the Hatch Shell in Boston. Thank You Salem!

THE BOSTON PHOENIX (February 20, 2004)

Operetta, New England Light Opera performing "The (In)Complete Works of Gilbert and Sullivan" sounds kind of, well, light. Or even like the "G&S Amateur Hour." But don't be fooled: this is the same outfit that put on Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow last year in John Hancock Hall, and that production, in the esteem of our globetrotting Arts editor, ranked up there with the 2003 Komishe Oper Presentation in Berlin and well ahead (!) of the Met's 2000 version with Placido Domingo and Frederica von Stade. 'Nuf said. Dirk Hillyer conducted a performance of some musical distinction, which is what a successful performance of "The Merry Widow" depends on. No wonder Gustav Mahler adored this score.

THE DAILY ITEM (November 9, 2002) 'AN EVENING OF ARIAS' WAS A GIFT

Dirk Hillyer's Festival Orchestra contributes genuine and, it is hoped, permanent vaule to the North Shore musical landscape, as anyone who attended last night's "An Evening of Opera Arias" would certainly attest....Accompanied by a small orchestra of strings, wind and keyboard instruments, these four professional singers gave an arresting performance packed with tireless, ferocious energy under Hillyer's practiced baton...That this talented group of musicians walk among us in our own backyard is a thrilling notion. They are a gift not only to Salem but to the entire North Shore.