Ronald Leonard

Ronald Leonard has been known and admired as one of America’s leading cellists for many years. He was principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he performed many times as soloist in works by Schumann, Barber, Brahms, Beethoven, Lalo, Tchaikovsky, Berio, Barber, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Strauss and others. Some of the conductors for these performances were Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mariss Jansons, Andre Previn and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Mr. Leonard has always been active as a teacher, having been Professor of Cello at the Eastman School of Music, Piatigorsky Professor of Cello at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, and now cello and chamber music faculty member at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music. He has also taught and performed at many music festivals, including Aspen, Marlboro, Musicorda, Sarasota and the Perlman Music Program.

Chamber music has always been an important interest in Mr. Leonard’s life, and he has performed with many of the world’s top artists, including Rudolf Serkin, Felix Galimir, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, and Richard Goode. He has been guest artist with many of the finest string quartets—the Guarneri, Borromeo, Juilliard and American, to name a few. Mr. Leonard performs on a Peter (of Mantua) Guarnerius cello, which is the only known instrument from the hand of this fine maker.