Benefactors help support performing arts center

Erica Haskell/RIT

Bob Kalka toured the RIT Performing Arts Center during construction last year and wished such a venue was available when he was a student 40 years ago. He and his wife made a donation to help support the center so current and future students can continue to participate in performing arts at RIT.

Bob Kalka ’89 (computer science) hoped that his passion for performing would continue after high school, but his performances paused when he attended RIT. “There weren’t too many outlets for it then, or I would have been in the middle of it,” he said.

Years later, with more than 30 years into a cybersecurity career with IBM and as a highly active musician in the lauded Austin, Texas, music scene, he’s pleased that RIT’s performing arts opportunities have ballooned and that more than 3,000 students have received Performing Arts Scholarships since 2019.

In September, he toured the RIT Performing Arts Center, still under construction. “It blew away my expectations,” he said. “This is truly a world-class theater.”

Kalka and his wife, Kelly Porter Kalka ’88 (marketing) made a donation to name the theater’s follow spot room.

“We’re proud to help give the students this creative outlet,” he said. “I know how important it is for students to have a hobby outside their areas of study. This will help let them keep their music as a hobby and get a professional job.”

Named portions of the RIT Performing Arts Center from benefactors, who gave gifts up to $1 million, include:

Dave and Nancy Munson Amphitheater: 49 contributors
Two-story lobby: Robert J. and Christina Brinkman
Rehearsal room: President Emeritus Dave Munson and Nancy Munson
Stage: Trustee Andrew Jacobson, ’90 (hotel management), ’96 (service management)
Scene shop: LeChase Construction
Orchestra pit: Jonathan B. Phillips, ’99 (color science)
Organ restoration: Biggar Family, honoring Myron Biggar, family of RIT staff member Scott Biggar
Box office: Dawn Lipson, friend of RIT
Control room: Parents and retired staff member Carol Reed and her husband Guy ’95 (human resource development)
Follow spot room: Robert Kalka ’89 (computer science) and Kelly Kalka ’88 (marketing)