About the POPS!

Nick Palmer has been widely recognized for his compelling performances, visionary leadership and emotional connection to audiences and is regarded as one of the most talented symphonic and Pops conductors on the scene today. Maestro Palmer is thrilled to be in his 9th season as music director of the North Charleston POPS!

Nick is also music director of the Altoona Symphony in Pennsylvania, where he has a four decade association with the orchestra, and in his 26th season as conductor of the Evening Under the Stars summer music festival in Massachusetts where he regularly conducts the Plymouth Philharmonic. He was a recipient of the Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras as the nation’s most outstanding young music director.

Palmer has had an extensive recording career with the London Philharmonic at the Abbey Road Studios. These recordings have garnered both Billboard and Gramophone awards on both sides of the Atlantic and this review in Fanfare Magazine:  “Nick Palmer conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra with precision and sensitivity. The sound quality is vibrant and live-sounding. This is an important recording, which I recommend strongly.” He returned to Abbey Road with the London Philharmonic in September 2023.

Nick has won rave reviews with the Detroit Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Louisville Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Salt Lake Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Greenville Symphony and other orchestras across the nation. Nick is a frequent Pops conductor for the Springfield (MA) Symphony and returns to the historic Symphony Hall this February.

A favorite guest conductor in Europe, Mexico and Latin America, Palmer has led the Europa Philharmonie, West Bohemia Symphony, Sophia Symphony, Milano Classico Orchestra, Lausanne Symphony, the OSSLA and Monterrey Symphony in Mexico, National Orchestra of Bolivia and the Medellin Symphony in Colombia. He also led the Prague Radio Orchestra in performances at the Prague Castle and Nelahozeves Castle and conducted a two week tour of the Liguria and Piedmont regions of Italy, including performances at the Villa d’Este, with the San Remo Symphony.

A native of Hingham, Massachusetts, Palmer graduated cum laude from Harvard University and received his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Orchestral Conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Iowa, respectively. He also studied at the Juilliard School, Pierre Monteux Domaine School, Aspen Music School, the Festival at Sandpoint, and the Accademia Chigiana in Italy, where he was a student of Franco Ferrara and Carlo Maria Giulini. Nick and his wife Dorothy are thrilled to live in the Lowcountry!

Gerome Stewart, Concertmaster of the North Charleston POPS!, began playing the violin at the age of ten.  At seventeen, Gerome was a part of the Walt Disney World Millennium Celebration Orchestra that performed during the Super Bowl XXXIV Halftime Show in Atlanta, GA. In 2000 he attended Columbus State University, studying with Patricio Cobos and earning a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance. After graduating, Mr. Stewart attended the University of Louisville, earning a Master’s degree in Violin Performance while studying with J. Patrick Rafferty. Mr. Stewart had the opportunity to perform in master classes with artists such as Cecylia Arzewski, Robert McDuffie, Midori, György Kurtág, Eroica Trio, Diaz Trio, Turtle Island String Quartet, Miami String Quartet, and Takács Quartet.

Mr. Stewart has performed with many orchestras throughout the Southeast including the Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Columbus, Savannah, and Valdosta symphonies and is currently an active member of the Hilton Head Symphony. He has toured professionally with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, New Sigmund Romberg Orchestra, Hollywood Concert Orchestra, and The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. In addition to his orchestral career, Mr. Stewart has performed with such artists as Evanescence, Lindsey Stirling, Wayne Newton, Sarah McLachlan, Michael Bolton, Mannheim Steamroller, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and touring Broadway shows, including Phantom of the Opera.

Tacy Edwards is a co-founder of the North Charleston POPS!, and served as its Executive Director for its first ten years. She has brought decades of experience in the arts field to the purpose of creating and nurturing this vibrant orchestra to become the heart of the North Charleston arts experience. Tacy is Principal Flute with the POPS!, holds the position of Second Flute in the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and has been the Piccoloist with the CSO from 1992 to the present.

“It has been rewarding to work with the POPS! team in this welcoming city of North Charleston, which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary! The vision of the various mayors of the City of North Charleston have made the arts central to the community in building the Coliseum and, later, the Performing Arts Center. We are proud to call the Performing Arts Center our home and are impressed with the dynamic economic, cultural and domestic growth of the city as it continues to attract new businesses and has become the heart of the Lowcountry with its shopping choices, hotel accommodations, International airport, Boeing facilities, business opportunities and innovative new educational and recreational programs for the children of the community. North Charleston is definitely a great place to live, work and play.”