The Newark Central School District will once again host a wonderful evening of holiday music with the incomparable Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in the Newark High School auditorium on Friday, December 6th at 7 p.m.
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The event is being hosted by the Newark Central School District in conjunction Wegmans, Lyons National Bank and the Greater Newark Chamber of Commerce.
“This is the 23rd year we have hosted the RPO in our community. These holiday concerts in Newark are a wonderful annual holiday tradition that so many of us look forward to,’’ said Cynthia Briggs, NCSD Music Department Leader and Kelley School instrumental music teacher.
“The Newark Central School District would also again like to thank the many sponsors who have enabled us to present this performance at a great price,’’ Briggs continued. “We are especially grateful for all of our donors for their generous support of this event.”
Jherrard Hardeman, Assistant Conductor & Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO) will be conducting the concert again this year.
Having joined the RPO in 2023, Hardeman is an eloquent communicator known for his thoughtful and revelatory interpretations and is a rising star on the symphonic stages. In April 2023, he was named Assistant Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic and Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
Hardeman studied Orchestral Conducting under internationally renowned conductors David Robertson at The Juilliard School and Hugh Wolff at The New England Conservatory of Music. During the 2024/2025 season, Hardeman will concurrently serve as Guest Faculty at the Eastman School of Music during which he will conduct performances with both the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra and Eastman Philharmonia.
He has appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic, Trilogy: An Opera Company, Seattle Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Grosse Pointe Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and has assisted at the National Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago. An innate leader, Hardeman has also conducted orchestras at such distinguished prestigious institutions such as: The New England Conservatory of Music, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and AVANTI! Summer MusicFest.
A champion of new music, Hardeman has conducted works by John Adams, Valerie Coleman, Missy Mazzoli, Chad “Sir Wick” Hughes, James Cohn, Jessie Montgomery, Rick Robinson, Zhou Tian, Cynthia Van Maanen, John Corigliano and has also been known to conduct his own compositions.
Passionate about music education, Maestro Hardeman is on the conducting faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and continues to work as a guest conductor for all ensembles in the Detroit Metropolitan Youth Symphony and the Dearborn Youth Symphony programs. Jherrard has also been an orchestral adjudicator at the inaugural National Heritage Academies East Regional Music Festival.
George DeMott will be the guest soloist at the concert.
A mix of classic masculinity and charm, DeMott captures the essence of the great singers of days gone by with his unique contemporary style. Singing opera to pop and everything in between, his performances have captured the hearts of listeners around the world. Classically trained, he holds degrees from UC Santa Barbara and the prestigious Eastman School of Music.
In the opera world, he has performed several classic Tenor roles with Orlando, Glimmerglass, Virginia, Illinois, and others. Most recently, DeMott joined the team at Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as a development officer where he is honored to further the mission of music at such an esteemed anchor in Rochester's cultural arts community.
Although he enjoys singing many styles of music, his heart and voice shine in the new Pop-Opera genre best reflected in his work with the dynamic vocal trio, POPERAZZI. This energetic and versatile trio has performed with some of the top orchestras in North America including Atlanta, Philadelphia, Edmonton, Naples, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Corpus Christi, Pasadena, Detroit, and more.
Although being born and raised in Rochester, DeMott spent 11 years based in Las Vegas where he put his talents to work performing at resorts and casinos as well as corporate venues there.
He has also been a featured guest entertainer aboard several cruise ships, namely Crystal Cruises, bringing his love of Pop-Opera to audiences all over the world.
Admission to the RPO concert is $7 for students, $12 for senior citizens and $14 for adults. Advance sale tickets are available at the Newark and Lyons branches of Lyons National Bank. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Before the concert at 6 p.m. music will be provided by the NHS Jazz Band and Fusion Ensemble in the gymnasium.
They will be directed by NHS instrumental music teacher Robert Humphrey.
Anyone with questions may call Briggs at 332-3200 ext. 3140.