Ronald Thomas (cellist)
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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.[1]
Thomas is the co-founder and artistic director of the Boston Chamber Music Society and 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.[2] Other chamber music appearances include the La Musica, Music at Menlo, Sarasota Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Music in the Mountains, Portland Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Music Festival, Bravo! Colorado Chamber Music Festival, Festival dei Due Mondi, Blossom Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Sarasota Music Festival, the Yale at Norfolk Festival, the Dubrovnik Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Amsterdam Festival, and others.[3]
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 meber of these two groups, Thomas premiered countless new works, including those by Gunther Schuller, Michael Colgrass, Ellen Zwillich, Donald Erb, William Bolcom, and William Thomas McKinley.[4]
Thomas is a former member of the faculties at M.I.T., Brown University, the Boston Conservatory and, most recently, the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore where he spent nine years before resigning in 1997 in order to spend more time with his family and the cello. Thomas is married to violist Cynthia Phelps with whom he has three daughters: Lili, Christina, and Caitlin. They live just outside New York City in Leonia, N.J.[5]
Prior to winning the Young Concert Artists auditions at the age of 19, Mr. Thomas attended the New England Conservatory and the Curtis Institute. His principal teachers were Lorne Monroe, David Soyer, and for early studies, Mary Canberg.[6]
