Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor

It will, indeed, be “the most wonderful time of the year” when baritone Colin Levin and radio personality Ray Brown take the stage with The Hillyer Festival Orchestra in a musical program that sparkles with wonder and enchantment for this year’s Holiday Pops on Saturday, December 10 at Abbot Hall in Marblehead.

Levin’s rich baritone voice will fill Abbot Hall with the grandeur of “O Holy Night” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” as well as special selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein. 

For the children and the child-within-us-all, Ray Brown, whose voice is well-known by classical radio listeners, will narrate the iconic story, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” accompanied by full orchestra.

Dirk Hillyer and The Hillyer Festival Orchestra will treat us to lush arrangements of Victor Herbert’s “March of the Toys,” a selection from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” and holiday classics and delights.

Those arriving when the doors open at 7 p.m. for the pre-concert Dessert Reception will be greeted with caroling by The Marblehead Veterans Middle School Select Chorus and The Ovations directed by Robert Tirelli.

Maestro Hillyer will lift his baton at 8 p.m. and the concert will begin. 

During intermission, Bette Hunt’s signature Holiday Pops art, “A View From Prospect Alley,” will be raffled off.

And during the second act of the concert, Ed Bell will auction off the baton and the right to conduct The Hillyer Festival Orchestra in “Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.”

Levin has appeared as a soloist with the Caramoor Music Festival, Opera New Jersey, Opera Boston, Winter Opera St. Louis, St. Petersburg Opera (FL), the Sugarcreek Symphony and Song (IL), Illinois Opera Theater, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Performed opera roles include Figaro in both Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Le Nozze di Figaro, Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, Sid in Albert Herring, Dandini in La Cenerentola, The Forrester in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Morales in Carmen, Mr. Lindquist in A Little Night Music, Baron Douphol in La Traviata, Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Tobias Mill in Rossini's La Cambiale di Matrimonio, Top (cover) in Copland's The Tenderland, and the cover to the title role in Hindemith's Cardillac.

Concert appearances include the baritone soloist in Ein Deutsches Requiem, the Faure Requiem, Vaughan-Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem, the Mozart Requiem, and Messiah.

Levin earned a Bachelor of Music from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music. 

Brown is a music host on WGBH’s 99.5 All Classical radio in Boston, and the narrator for Simon & Schuster’s Pimsleur Language Programs.  He is also the creator and host of the Talkin’ Birds radio show, heard on eight stations around New England and on podcasts via iTunes and Talkinbirds.com. 

Among his broadcast achievements, Brown’s been a Top 5 national finalist in

Air Personality of the Year competitions from Billboard Magazine and the

National Association of Broadcasters; his “Back Seat Governor” radio promotion

was featured in a Time Magazine photo story; he’s received a National

Association of Auto Dealers “Chassie” Award for radio commercial performance; and his novelty record “Get Preppy (the Preppy Song)” was played on radio stations in major markets including Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Detroit.

As a commercial narrator, Ray has voiced presentations for Colgate-Palmolive, Hasbro Toys, McDonald’s, and the U.S. Coast Guard, and serves as a regular off-camera voice on Boston’s WBZ-TV. He has performed on stage as narrator in live performances with the Boston Pops, the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.

Ray’s other interests include kayaking, birdwatching, politics, and football. He lives in Boston.