Ronald Leonard is an American

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. He has had a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, principal cellist and teacher. He is currently on the faculties of the

USC Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

and the

Colburn School The Colburn School is a private performing arts school in Los Angeles with a focus on music and dance. It consists of four divisions: the Conservatory of Music, Music Academy, Community School of Performing Arts and the Trudl Zipper Dance Instit ...

. He was a winner of the Walter Naumburg Competition while a student at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

, where he studied with

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C. His parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

and Orlando Cole. His first professional position was as a cellist in the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

, where he sat on the second stand. Two years later Mr. Leonard became principal cellist of the

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music. History George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Compan ...

and at that time began teaching at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

. He taught at Eastman for 17 years, spent one year as cellist of the

Vermeer Quartet The Vermeer Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1969 at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and active until 2007. Background They performed in North and South America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia. Based in Chicago, they spent part ...

, and then was appointed principal cellist of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

, a post he held for 24 years. During this time, he soloed frequently with the orchestra. During this entire period he has been very active as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Conducting is his most recent activity; Mr. Leonard is the conductor of the Colburn School Chamber Orchestra and he has been very involved at the

, working with the string sections of both the USC Thornton Symphony and the USC Thornton Chamber Orchestra. From 1993 to 2003, he held the prestigious post of "

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian-born American cello, cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Dnipro, Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a c ...

Endowed Chair in Violoncello " at the

. He was only third person to ever hold the position, following Piatigorsky himself and

Lynn Harrell Lynn Harrell (January 30, 1944 – April 27, 2020) was an American classical cellist. Known for the "penetrating richness" of his sound, Harrell performed internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with major orchestras o ...

(1986–1993). He is known internationally as, “one of the better ‘cellists originally from Rhode Island”.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American classical cellists 20th-century American cellists Cello educators USC Thornton School of Music faculty Eastman School of Music faculty Summit Records artists Players of the Cleveland Orchestra Players of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Players of the Los Angeles Philharmonic {{US-musician-stub