Ronald Thomas (cellist)
Encyclopedia
Ronald Thomas is an American cellist known for his work as a soloist and chamber musician. Thomas has made guest appearances with some of the world's finest orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra
, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Handel and Haydn Society
, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, and the Blossom Festival Orchestra among others. He has played recitals in nearly every state including performances in the cities of New York
, Washington, D.C.
, Boston
, and Los Angeles
. Thomas has also performed throughout Europe
and Asia
.
before attending the New England Conservatory of Music
and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where his principal teachers were Lorne Munroe
and David Soyer
. He first drew recognition when he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1974 at the age of nineteen. Since then he has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras both in the United States and internationally.
Ronald Thomas is currently the Principal Cellist of the St. Paul Chamber orchestra, a position he has held since 2005. Thomas is the former co-founder and artistic director of the Boston Chamber Music Society
, where he spent 26 years performing and directing until 2009. He has also appeared with the Seattle Chamber Music Society
and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both at Alice Tully Hall
and on tour. Other chamber music appearances include the La Musica
, Music@Menlo
, Sarasota Music Festival
, Music from Angel Fire
, Music in the Mountains
, Portland Chamber Music Festival
, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival
, Festival dei Due Mondi
, Blossom Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest
, Sarasota Music Festival
, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
, the Dubrovnik Festival, Edinburgh Festival
, Amsterdam Festival, and others.
Thomas is the artistic director of Chestnut Hill Concerts
of Madison, CT and was an original member of the Players in Residence committee and the Board of Overseers at Bargemusic
in New York City
. Thomas is also a former member of Boston Musica Viva
and the Aeolian Chamber Players
. While a member of these two groups, Thomas premiered countless new works, including those by Gunther Schuller
, Michael Colgrass
, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Donald Erb
, William Bolcom
, and William Thomas McKinley
.
Thomas is a former member of the faculties at M.I.T., Brown University
, the Boston Conservatory
and the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore where he spent nine years before resigning in 1997 in order to spend more time with his then new daughter, Caitlin,and the cello. Thomas is married to violist Cynthia Phelps
and they live just outside New York City in Leonia, N.J., while Mr. Thomas maintains a secondary residence in St. Paul, MN. They have three daughters: Lili (by Thomas' marriage to Mihae Lee
), Christina (by Phelps' marriage to baritone David Malis), and Caitlin.
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a professional American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland.In September 2007, Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra.The BSO Board...
, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Handel and Haydn Society
Handel and Haydn Society
The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815, it remains one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the United States.-Early history:...
, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, and the Blossom Festival Orchestra among others. He has played recitals in nearly every state including performances in the cities of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Thomas has also performed throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Biography
Thomas first studied cello with Mary CanbergMary Canberg
Mary Canberg was an American violinist, conductor, and music educator.Canberg was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She studied with Michael Press and Hans Letz at the Juilliard School in New York City and made her professional debut in a recital at Town Hall on 31 January 1947...
before attending the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where his principal teachers were Lorne Munroe
Lorne Munroe
Lorne Munroe is a cellist. He was principal cellist for the Philadelphia Orchestra between 1951 and 1964 and principal cellist for the New York Philharmonic from 1964 through 1996. He was a featured soloist more than 150 times during the thirty-two seasons he played for the New York Philharmonic...
and David Soyer
David Soyer
David Soyer was an American cellist.He was born in Philadelphia and began playing the piano at the age of nine. At 11, he started the cello. One of his first teachers was Diran Alexanian. Later on he studied with Emanuel Feuermann and Pablo Casals...
. He first drew recognition when he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1974 at the age of nineteen. Since then he has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras both in the United States and internationally.
Ronald Thomas is currently the Principal Cellist of the St. Paul Chamber orchestra, a position he has held since 2005. Thomas is the former co-founder and artistic director of the Boston Chamber Music Society
Boston Chamber Music Society
The Boston Chamber Music Society is an American organization of musicians located in Boston, Massachusetts and dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. The organization performs works from the Baroque era to the present day and is a member of Chamber Music America...
, where he spent 26 years performing and directing until 2009. He has also appeared with the Seattle Chamber Music Society
Seattle Chamber Music Society
The Seattle Chamber Music Society is an American organization of musicians located in Seattle, Washington that is dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Established in 1982, the presenting organization is currently in its 30th Anniversary Season...
and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both at Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
and on tour. Other chamber music appearances include the La Musica
La Musica
La Musica is a chamber music festival located in Sarasota, Florida. Concerts are performed annually throughout the month of April at the Sarasota Opera House. Founded in 1987 by Artistic Directors Bruno Giuranna and Derek Han , the festival draws many of the world's finest performers...
, Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival in San Francisco, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media says that "Music@Menlo has rapidly become one of the world's top-tier chamber music festivals due to the quality...
, Sarasota Music Festival
Sarasota Music Festival
Sarasota Music Festival is an American classical music festival held annually during the month of June in Sarasota, Florida under the sponsorship of the Sarasota Orchestra. The Festival was founded in 1965 by conductor Paul Wolfe who remained director of the festival through the summer of 2006....
, Music from Angel Fire
Music from Angel Fire
Music from Angel Fire, is the first chamber music festival in New Mexico designed to serve the artistic needs of rural northern New Mexico communities...
, Music in the Mountains
Music in the Mountains
Music in the Mountains is an annual summer classical music festival located in Durango and Pagosa Springs, Colorado, with additional performances in other regional towns. Performances are held from early July through early August and feature performances by both professional and student artists...
, Portland Chamber Music Festival
Portland Chamber Music Festival
The Portland Chamber Music Festival is an annual chamber music festival located in Portland, Maine. Founded in 1994 by Artistic Directors Jennifer Elowitch and Dena Levine , the festival presents a summer concert series in August at the Abromson Community Education Center.In addition, the festival...
, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is a six week long summer Festival of chamber music held annually in July and August and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was founded in 1972 and presented its first series of concerts in 1973. Well-known musicians and young performers appear each season in...
, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival
Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival
The Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival is an annual summer classical music festival located in Vail, Colorado. The festival was founded in 1987 by violinist Ida Kavafian and attorney John Giovando with the initial purpose of presenting a concert series of chamber music...
, Festival dei Due Mondi
Festival dei Due Mondi
The Festival dei Due Mondi ' is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958...
, Blossom Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest
Chamber Music Northwest
Chamber Music Northwest is an American non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon that is dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. The organization's main presentation is an annual five-week summer festival that occurs during the months of June and July...
, Sarasota Music Festival
Sarasota Music Festival
Sarasota Music Festival is an American classical music festival held annually during the month of June in Sarasota, Florida under the sponsorship of the Sarasota Orchestra. The Festival was founded in 1965 by conductor Paul Wolfe who remained director of the festival through the summer of 2006....
, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival is believed to be the oldest active music festival in North America. Set in a picturesque landscape among the Litchfield Hills of the lower Berkshires, the Festival traces its roots to the Battell family who started hosting summer concerts on the Norfolk town...
, the Dubrovnik Festival, Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, Amsterdam Festival, and others.
Thomas is the artistic director of Chestnut Hill Concerts
Chestnut Hill Concerts
The Chestnut Hill Concerts is an annual summer chamber music festival located in Madison, Connecticut. Founded in 1969 by Elsa Redlich of Yale University, the festival has had strong ties to the Yale School of Music throughout its history. Since 1989 the festival has been led by internationally...
of Madison, CT and was an original member of the Players in Residence committee and the Board of Overseers at Bargemusic
Bargemusic
Bargemusic, formally known as Bargemusic, Ltd. is a classical music venue and cultural icon in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1977, it is housed on a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Thomas is also a former member of Boston Musica Viva
Boston Musica Viva
Boston Musica Viva is a Boston, Massachusetts-based music ensemble founded by its Music Director, Richard Pittman, in 1969 and dedicated to contemporary music.-Composers and compositions:...
and the Aeolian Chamber Players
Aeolian Chamber Players
The Aeolian Chamber Players is an American musical ensemble that is dedicated to the performance of chamber music. Founded in 1961 by violinist Lewis Kaplan, the group has been the resident ensemble at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine since 1964. The ensemble is particularly known for performing...
. While a member of these two groups, Thomas premiered countless new works, including those by Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
, Michael Colgrass
Michael Colgrass
Michael Colgrass is an American-born Canadian musician, composer, and educator.His musical career began in Chicago as a jazz musician . He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in percussion performance and composition, including studies with Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Festival...
, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Donald Erb
Donald Erb
Donald Erb was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and Ritual Observances.-Early years:...
, William Bolcom
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
, and William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley is an American composer and jazz pianist. He has written more than 300 musical compositions, many of which have been recorded by such ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony...
.
Thomas is a former member of the faculties at M.I.T., Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, the Boston Conservatory
Boston Conservatory
The Boston Conservatory is a performing arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance and musical theater...
and the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore where he spent nine years before resigning in 1997 in order to spend more time with his then new daughter, Caitlin,and the cello. Thomas is married to violist Cynthia Phelps
Cynthia Phelps
Cynthia Phelps is an American violist whose versatile career involves work as a chamber musician, solo artist, and orchestral musician. Phelps is currently the Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic, a position to which she was appointed in 1992...
and they live just outside New York City in Leonia, N.J., while Mr. Thomas maintains a secondary residence in St. Paul, MN. They have three daughters: Lili (by Thomas' marriage to Mihae Lee
Mihae Lee
Mihae Lee is an American pianist of South Korean birth. Born in Seoul, Lee won the Korean National Music Competition which led to her professional solo debut at the age of fourteen with the Korean National Orchestra. That same year she moved to the United States to study at the Juilliard School on...
), Christina (by Phelps' marriage to baritone David Malis), and Caitlin.