Pro Arte's Spring Gala

April 29, 2012 at the
Dante Alighieri Italian Cultural Center in Cambridge

We had a wonderful time at our Spring Gala! Watch this space for our next event.

April 29 concert postponed

Kevin Rhodes, Music Director

Visit www.kevinrhodesconductor.com for more information about Mr. Rhodes.

Pro Arte welcomed Kevin Rhodes as its new Music Director for the 2010 concert season. Mr. Rhodes served as its Guest Conductor in two well received concerts in the 2007 and 2008 concert seasons. He is in his ninth season as music director of both the Springfield Symphony Orchestra of Massachusetts and the Traverse Symphony Orchestra of Michigan. His tenure at these orchestras has been marked by critical acclaim, as well by as significant increases in subscriptions, single ticket sales, and contributions.

Mr. Rhodes assumed his current posts after working for ten years in Europe, where he led over 700 performances with twenty different orchestras, including the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (the Vienna Philharmonic), the Berlin Staatskappelle, La Scala, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Düsseldorf Symphony, the Duisburg Philharmonic, the Swiss Chamber Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestra of Madrid, and the Basel Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Rhodes began his professional conducting career at the age of 16 in his home town of Evansville, Indiana. He received his B.M. in Piano Performance from Michigan State University where he studied conducting with Maestro Leon Gregorian, and he earned his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Illinois with Paul Vermel, with whom he continued to study at the Aspen Music Festival.

As a pianist, Mr. Rhodes was the 1980 winner of the Evansville Philharmonic Concerto Competition, and Principal Pianist of the New Mexico Symphony. He has performed in hundreds of chamber music concerts in the United States and Switzerland. In 2009 he was the first recipient of the WFCR Arts & Humanities Award for his broad and positive impact on the arts in western Massachusetts.

Joyce Kulhawik

Look for Joyce online at joyceschoices.com!

Joyce Kulhawik is best known as the Emmy Award-winning arts and entertainment critic for CBS-Boston (WBZ-TV 1981-2008.) She is currently lending her expertise as an arts advocate and cancer crusader all over the region. As an Emmy Award-winning journalist, Kulhawik has covered local and national events from Boston and Broadway to Hollywood. She co-hosted the nationally syndicated movie-review show "Hot Ticket," and was a continuing co-host on "Roger Ebert & The Movies." Kulhawik continues to perform as a guest narrator and has performed with the Boston Pops, the New England Philharmonic, Boston Musica Viva, the Boston Civic Symphony, and the Concord Orchestra. In May 2010 Kulhawik was honored with the Governor's Award at the 33rd National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Boston/New England Emmy Awards.

A three-time cancer survivor, Kulhawik was called upon to testify before Congress on the 20TH ANNIVERSARY of The National Cancer Act. Since 1983, Joyce has served as the Honorary Chairperson of the American Cancer Society's Massachusetts Daffodil Days, the ACS's largest statewide Spring fundraising event and has helped raise millions of dollars for the ACS's programs of research, education, and service to cancer patients and their families. As a member of the Society's Board of Advisors, Joyce has also been instrumental in raising awareness and funds to open the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge Center in Boston, a program of the American Cancer Society that provides free lodging and support for cancer patients who must travel far from home for treatment in Boston. Since opening in 2008, the Boston Hope Lodge has provided a home away from home for nearly 1,000 guests. The American Cancer Society has honored Joyce with its prestigious St. George National Bronze Medal Award for her continuing advocacy on behalf of cancer patients and their caregivers. Kulhawik accepted the 1994 Gilda Radner Award from the Wellness Community in Greater Boston "for engendering inspiration in cancer patients via her own valiant fight with the disease."

Formerly an English teacher at Brookline High School, Kulhawik holds an M.A.T. in English/Education from the University of Vermont, and an honorary Doctorate in Communications from her Alma Mater, Simmons College. She was honored by the Berklee College of Music with an endowed scholarship in her name, and currently serves on the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment Commission, the Boston Society of Film Critics, and is President of the Boston Theater Critics Association. In 2009 Kulhawik was awarded the Stagesource Theatre Hero Award as a champion of Boston area theatre and the arts. Kulhawik also received the 2009 Boston Globe Arts Champion Award by the Boston Center for the Arts, and was among the first inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Kulhawik also moonwalks and yodels.