Art Council Luncheon Honorees:

Gerald S. Lippes, J.D.
Knox Lifetime Achievement Awards

Mr. Lippes is founder and senior partner of the law firm of Lippes, Mathias, Wexler, Friedman, LLP. He is currently on the boards of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The New York State Council on the Arts, and the University at Buffalo Foundation. In 2004, Mr. Lippes and his late wife, Sandra F. Lippes, through an extraordinary financial gift, established an interdisciplinary graduate degree program in arts administration at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The program is unique among arts administration curricula nationwide in its integration of the arts with professional programs in law and management and is attracting national and international accolades. Their generosity also resulted in the establishment of the Lippes Concert Hall at Slee Concert Hall at the University at Buffalo's North Campus

Emanuel (Manny) Fried
Knox Lifetime Achievement Award

A lifetime achiever, Manny Fried will also receive the Knox Lifetime Achievement Award. This playwright, novelist, actor, English professor emeritus, and labor organizer has professional credits dating back to 1928. His life has been about personal integrity, risk, dilemma, and enormous achievement despite overwhelming obstacles. Born in Brooklyn but raised in Buffalo, Mr. Fried wrote his first play while he was in high-school about the prostitutes he met while working nights as a bellhop. He is founder of Buffalo Literary Center and the Western New York Playwrights Workshop and is credited with producing more than a dozen plays, many of which were produced to acclaim off-Broadway, including Big Ben Hood, Drop Hammer, and The Dodo Bird. His most recent play, Boilermakers and Martini's, is an autobiographical play about his life.

Anthony C. Conte
Arts Administrator

The award for Outstanding Arts Administrator will be presented to Anthony C. Conte, CEO of Shea's Performing Arts Center. (Shea's O'Connell Preservation Guild, Ltd.). Mr. Conte's history with Shea's began as a volunteer and he served on its Board of Trustees prior to becoming its president in March 2001. He has a business background, beginning his career in management positions within M&T Bank and then running his own business, Larry Smith Office Equipment, Inc. At Shea's, Mr. Conte is responsible for the successful operation and growth of Buffalo's 82-year old National Landmark Theater, presenting touring Broadway shows, family productions, dance programs, concerts, civic events and an extensive education program. Under his leadership, with support from the Shea's Board of Trustees and the theater community's supporter's, the theater is now financially sound and able to fund the operating expenses through current revenue sources and philanthropic support.

Buffalo Spree
Business Award

Buffalo Spree will accept the Business Award this year. Recognized nationally for its design and content, Buffalo Spree strives to cover every facet of Western New York's art scene. Buffalo Spree magazine strives to showcase Buffalo as a beautiful and desirable place to live, rich in the arts, architecture and examples of natural beauty in our midst. Buffalo Spree's publisher, editors, writers and staff are a prime example of dedicated Buffalo boosters, focusing on the exceptional quality of life in our region. Through their articles, features, listings, guides and photographs, the magazine is a consistent advocate and ambassador for the cultural experiences and offerings of our region.

Maris Battaglia
Arts Supporter

Maris Battaglia, Founder of the American Academy of Ballet is the recipient of the award for Outstanding Arts Supporter. She is the director of the American Academy of Ballet in Williamsville, which she established in 1965. Miss Battaglia's artistic and professional impact on the lives of young dancers in the Western New York community and internationally during the past 45 years is significant. She has facilitated the development of grace, poise, an awareness of the arts, and the physical and mental discipline associated with the serious study of dance for thousands of young children during her career. Her students have been accepted into and received scholarships to major dance schools across the United States and Canada. In addition, more than 75 of her students have gone on to dance professionally in every major ballet company in the United States, Canada, and Europe, as well as on television and the Broadway stage.

Roland E. Martin
Individual Artist

The award for Outstanding Individual Artist goes to Roland E. Martin, Music Director, Freudig Singers of Western New York. Mr. Martin exemplifies what it means to be an outstanding artist in Western New York. For the past 30 years, Roland E. Martin has contributed immeasurably to the Western New York classical music scene. He is the Music Director of the Freudig Singers of Western New York and the Chautauqua Chamber Singers, an organist and Director of Music at St. Joseph University Church, Buffalo and the founder and director of Speculum Musicae, an ensemble of early music. He also serves as conductor/music director for Opera Sacra for many of its productions. An accomplished composer, Mr. Martin has more than 90 works in publication with a number of commissions from universities, choral societies and individuals.

The Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus
Arts Organization

The Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus will receive the award for Outstanding Arts Organization. The meteoric artistic growth and audience expansion of this region's only all-male chorus led to its nomination and award as this year's Outstanding Arts Organization. Under the professional direction of Barbara Wagner, the all-volunteer chorus presents a wide-ranging repertoire including classical, contemporary, Broadway, pop and multi-cultural music, that can only be produced by 90 well-trained male voices. Entering their sixth year performing, the Chorus draws thousands of people to four major sold-out concerts annually. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has invited the Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus to perform with the Orchestra on two occasions; under the baton of Associate Conductor, Ron Spiegelman in 2003 and in 2006 under the direction of Joanne Falleta. The chorus also performed as part of the Ars Nova Viva Vivaldi series. In 2007, the chorus recorded a CD titled, Celebrate! Singing with Pride, to commemorate their 5th Anniversary. The chorus's generosity to the community is another reason it has been selected as Outstanding Arts Organization this year. The chorus regularly donates its services to help fundraisers or simply entertain at community-wide and gay community events. They have done benefits for the music program at the Amherst Unitarian Universalist Church, the restoration Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic Church, the annual World AIDS Day Memorial Service, and the AIDS Community Services fundraiser, Cause for Celebration to name a few. In 2005 they were recognized by the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation with a prestigious Community Service Award for "…excellence of the music, raising awareness… and their dedication to the (gay) community."

Thomas T. Kazmierczak, III
Special Merit Award

A Special Merit Award will be presented to Thomas T. Kazmierczak, III, Executive Director, Lancaster Opera House. Through Mr. Kazmierczak's leadership, the Lancaster Opera House has grown its budget from $350,000 to well over $1,000,000 annually. Under his direction, the theater's Arts In Action program was created, providing theater, dance and poetry workshops to underserved youth and families in Buffalo's poorest neighborhoods, (St. Luke's Mission of Mercy, the Dulski Center and St. Stanislaus School), serving hundreds of youth. In addition, thousands of inner-city children saw sponsored performances at the Lancaster Opera House under a program he fostered with the Starbucks Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts. An invaluable member of the Lancaster community, Mr. Kazmierczak discovered some of the original animated figures from AM&A's store in downtown Buffalo, hired artists to restore the figures and brought a Western New York tradition back to the area with Christmasville in Lancaster, attracting 100,000 visitors to the village this holiday season.

The event is made possible with support from Business First, Gibraltar Industries, Univera, WKBW Channel 7, WBFO 88.7 FM, Time Warner Cable, ARTVOICE, and Progressive Direct Marketing.