Conductor Kevin Rhodes enjoys a wonderfully varied career spanning concerts, opera and ballet across the globe, having conducted in over 15 different countries with more than 50 different orchestras. His work extends from the major opera houses of Europe to the concert stages of the US. He has been a presence in the major musical capitals of Europe for over 25 years, with credits including The Paris Opera, The Vienna State Opera, The Berlin State Opera, La Scala of Milan, The Dutch National Ballet, The Verona Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet, The New York City Ballet and many others. He has also served for 20 years as Music Director of two US orchestras, the Traverse Symphony Orchestra in Michigan, and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts.

 

Rhodes is one of the most sought after conductors by the world’s major ballet companies and their orchestras. His work at many of those illustrious opera houses has been seen and heard throughout Europe in many televised appearances and all over the world with the introduction of cinema performances, in addition to a number of productions having been filmed for DVD.

 

Kevin Rhodes began his European career as a house conductor at the Basel Stadttheater in Basel, Switzerland where he led already as a young Korrepetiteur led performances of major works such as “Tosca”, “Frau ohne Schatten”, “Rigoletto”, Wundebarer Mandarin” and many others. After Basel, he moved on to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf/Duisburg Germany as a First Kappelmeister leading hundreds of performances of the standard operatic repertoire from "Magic Flute" to „Il Trovatore“ to "Der Rosenkavelier", while at the same time serving as the principal ballet conductor of the Vienna State Opera at the invitation of then Ballet Director, Renato Zanella after a very successful debut season there leading Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. Further engagements followed at many other opera houses and orchestras throughout the continent...Berlin, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg, Naples, Verona, Milan, Paris, Stuttgart , etc.

 

In 2021 Maestro Rhodes celebrated dual 20 year anniversaries as Music Director of both the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts and Traverse Symphony Orchestra in Michigan. For 20 years he devoted himself to the building of those two ensembles as well as attending to the many outreach and education activities of those institutions. Under his leadership those ensembles and audiences have experienced tremendous growth and enthusiasm about classical music. With the start of the 2010-2011 season, Rhodes began working as Principal Conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston and has been invigorating that ensemble with his trademark energy. Maestro Rhodes has also guest conducted the Houston Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony (FL), the Canton Symphony (OH), the Queens Symphony (NJ) and many more. Rhodes continues his commitment to making the concert hall more than just a place to hear music, but rather a place to have singular experiences with music involving all sorts of thought, feeling and art.

 

Maestro Rhodes is very excited to be making his Slovakian debut with the Slovakian National Ballet and reuniting with Ballet Director, Nina Poláková. Ms. Poláková and Rhodes first worked together at the Vienna State Opera where they collaborated as Prima Ballerina and conductor in many productions over the years.

 

Upcoming seasons include productions at La Scala in Milan, the Slovenian National Ballet, and the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo. Rhodes also began a new relationship with the Rome Opera House conducting a highly regarded and acclaimed live radio broadcast with the Rome Opera Orchestra of Maurice Jarre’s ballet „"Notre Dame de Paris". He will return there for productions in the upcoming seasons.

 

Rhodes began his professional conducting career at the age of 16 in his hometown of Evansville, Indiana. He received his BM in Piano Performance from Michigan State University where he studied conducting with Maestro Leon Gregorian, and earned his MM in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Illinois under the tutelage of Paul Vermel.