Meet the Music Director

Kevin Rhodes

Kevin Rhodes has had a career marked by versatility and variety. His work extends from the major opera houses of Europe to the concert stages of the U.S. Since joining the Traverse Symphony Orchestra in 2001, he has led the orchestra to a new level of artistic excellence with high audience acclaim, rave reviews and sold-out houses. Patrons have called his performances with the TSO “wonderful,” “extraordinary” and “magical.” One audience member noted, “We are so lucky to live in this area.”

Since his professional debut in 1991 at the Stadttheater Basel, he has appeared with illustrious orchestras such as the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (the Vienna Philharmonic), Berlin Staatskappelle, Orchestra of La Scala, Verona Opera House Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic, Dusseldorf Symphony, Houston Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Duisburg Philharmonic, Orchestre de Colonne, Orchestre of the Paris Opera, Swiss Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Madrid, and the Basel Chamber Symphony among many others.

Mr. Rhodes serves as Music Director of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA) and beginning with the 2010-2011 Season will take the reins as Music Director of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in Cambridge (MA). In the 2009-2010 season he conducted for the Paris Opera Ballet in a tour to Brisbane, Australia, and in November 2010 he toured with the Dutch National Ballet to China.

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