FREE Broadway Recital to Celebrate AARP's Top Volunteer of 2023

Join AARP Delaware as they celebrate the 2023 Andrus Award winner with a FREE Broadway Recital. The FREE musical extravaganza will be at the Grand Opera House on November 29 at 7 PM. Registration is required HERE.

AARP’s Andrus Award for Community Service honors Delawareans aged 50 and older who are sharing their experience, talent, and skills to enrich the lives of their community members.

To celebrate, AARP is offering a FREE Broadway Recital featuring local performer Aidan Briggs. Briggs will perform an array of Broadway hits from Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Oklahoma and more!

Briggs will sing with the renowned orchestra SODELO, directed by James Allen Anderson. SODELO is a musical ensemble whose mission is to provide a welcoming environment for orchestra musicians in Southern Delaware to learn, play and perform classical music for the community, enhancing the richness of the cultural offerings of our region

Biographies

Aidan Briggs, Singer / Performer

Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Aidan Briggs began his musical career in 10th grade after auditioning for his school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. This led to him auditioning for his first community theater production at The Everett Theater, playing the role of Marius in Les Miserables. Directly following was the Delaware Premier of Disney's Newsies where Briggs played the leading role of Jack Kelly, receiving the Broadway World Regional Award for 'Best Lead Actor in a Musical.' He later received the same award for his role of Che in Milburn Stone Theaters production of Evita. 

 

Once Aidan graduated high school, he moved to New York City where he then graduated from The King's College with a BoA in Media, Culture, and The Arts with a Concentration in Theater. During his time at The King's College, he had the pleasure of performing in Songs for a New World, [title of show] where he played Hunter, and Carousel where he played Billy Bigelow. For his senior capstone project, Aidan put on a solo concert in which he sang songs from Sunset Boulevard, Phantom of the Opera, Sunday in the Park with George, Les Miserables, Amazing Grace and more. Recently, Aidan also had the honor of opening for Broadway and West End actor and singer Ramin Karimloo at the City Winery in New York City.

 

When back home in Delaware, Aidan performs with Sew Classy Royal Events, a professional character entertainment company whose goal is to inspire children to be kind, creative, courageous, and follow their dreams.

 

James Allen Anderson, Music Director

Christopher Ginn/Christopher Ginn / University of

In the Spring of 2022, Maestro Anderson began his tenure as Music Director of SODELO. Since 2011, he has proudly served as Director of Orchestral Studies at University of Delaware, its renowned orchestra, its Chamber Orchestra and Opera Theater. He was recently appointed as the Music Director of The Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey. Previous positions have included Music Director of the Butte Symphony Association, cover conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, and Director of Orchestral Activities at Appalachian State University and the University of Montana. He has held posts with the Eastman Opera Theatre, Triangle Opera (NC). He served 12 years on the board of directors of the International Conductors Guild, including a term as president. Today, he is a member of the Advisory Council of that organization, which is devoted to the advancement of the art of conducting and to serving the artistic and professional needs of conductors world wide.