Local Pell Awards Winners Announced

The 2006 Pell Awards for Excellence in the Arts will give Chita Rivera its Lifetime Achievement Award and will honor two local artists at its May 22, 2006 awards dinner.

Now in their tenth year, the Pell Awards honor Senator Claiborne Pell and recognize artistic excellence in Rhode Island and on the national level.

Conductor and professor George Kent and glass artist Toots Zynsky will be honored at the awards dinner, which is hosted by Trinity Repertory Company.

George Kent is music director of the Chorus of Westerly, which he founded in 1959. The Chorus of Westerly is a 200-voice choir with a mission to perform, with artistic integrity, both the major classic works of the choral literature and new or lesser-known pieces of merit.

Glass artist Toots Zynsky is known internationally not only as one of the most innovative voices in the American Studio Glass Movement, but also for her distinctively unique sculptural vessels she creates using her "filet de verre" technique.

The Pell Awards for Excellence in the Arts will take place in Providence, RI at the Convention Center on Monday evening, May 22nd. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit artistic programming at Trinity Rep and fund grants to the Pell Award winners.

For information and reservations contact Trinity Rep at (401) 521-1100, x104.

www.trinityrep.com