Ronald Leonard is best known as the former Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a post he held for 24 years. During that period he was guest soloist with the orchestra many times, performing works by Haydn, Dvorák, Berio, Barber, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Lalo, Elgar, Strauss, and others. Some of the conductors for these performances were Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mariss Jansons, André Previn, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Leonard was also very active in the Philharmonic Chamber Music Society series.
Several years ago, when the Colburn School, where he has taught for many years, was looking for a conductor, Ronald Leonard was chosen because of his vast orchestral experience and his background in teaching and performing. It was felt that the orchestra needed a leader who was a good musician with an understanding of string playing that would enable him to work with the many problems specific to string instruments. Since teaching has been a major interest during his entire musical career, Leonard was just the right person for the job. Prior to his appointment as Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Leonard had been Principal Cellist of the Rochester Philharmonic and had taught at the famous Eastman School of Music, where he was professor of cello for 17 years. He has also been an artist/performer at many summer music festivals, among which are Aspen, Marlboro, Meadowmount, the Australian Music Festival, Musicorda, Bowdoin, Summerfest in La Jolla, and the Sarasota Music Festival.
In his many years of chamber music performances he has played with many of the world’s leading musicians, including Rudolf Serkin, Leonard Rose, Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, Richard Goode, Peter Serkin, Joseph Silverstein, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, and Yo-Yo Ma. He has also been a guest artist with some of the world’s finest string quartets, including the Guarneri, Borromeo, Juilliard, and American Quartets. Since retiring from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Leonard has continued his solo and chamber music activities at an even more hectic pace, as well as maintaining a very busy teaching schedule. He is the Gregor Piatigorsky Professor of Violoncello at the USC Thornton School of Music and is the cello teacher in the new degree program at the Colburn School.
Ron sat down with AYS Executive Director Janneke Straub after rehearsal for the January AYS concert to discuss his experience with youth orchestras, and his advice for young musicians today:
Where did you grow up and what experiences do you have with youth orchestras?
I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, where we experienced the same situation as in many other schools in this country: in my first year in high school, we had a pretty decent orchestra, but by the time I graduated, the orchestra was practically gone. I played in the Brown University Orchestra, which was quite good, when I was 13-14 years old. At 15, I joined the semi-professional Rhode Island Philharmonic. Though it was also quite good, at the time, it is really excellent today. So, while I wasn’t in a “youth orchestra” per se, I did play in orchestras all throughout high school.
When were you introduced to AYS, and Alex Treger, our Music Director?
When I first came to Los Angeles to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic, I was hired by Zubin Mehta who soon introduced me to his father, Mehli Mehta, who was the founder of the American Youth Symphony. Mehli was a tremendous, unbelievable driving force behind this orchestra. He had such a deep love for music, and such wonderful knowledge.
Mehli conducted this orchestra for over 30 years. Los Angeles was and still is incredibly fortunate to have several great youth orchestras. In the world of music, it is not easy to find youth orchestras with such a high level of musicianship. There are so many fine young players today – it’s wonderful for them to have these opportunities to develop their talents.
Alex and I sat across from each other at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, when Alex was Concertmaster, and I was Principal Cellist. I remember Alex’s first rehearsal conducting the LA Philharmonic. When you are a member of an orchestra, it is not easy to get up in front of your colleagues. It is hard enough to play a concerto. But to conduct, oooooh! That’s another level of challenge – that’s much more difficult. He did a great job! And that was with little or no notice, no preparation time.
What do you think are the biggest challenges for our highly skilled young players, when they join a professional orchestra?
I have often heard young musicians say what a tremendous step up it is to join a first-class professional orchestra. Many schools, like USC and the Colburn Conservatory, have excellent orchestras. But I hear students say after they graduate: “Playing professionally is a totally different ball game”.
They walk into the first rehearsal, and suddenly, there’s no room for error. They have to really know their parts, principal players in particular. They don’t have the luxury of many rehearsals. They’re expected to play a Mahler symphony five times in a week, which is something most of them have never done, and that alone can be a bit of a strain.
If you consider sports as an analogy, there are so many great tennis players in high school, yet, so few of them go on to play professionally. It’s fantastic for aspiring musicians to play in a college orchestra or in an orchestra like the American Youth Symphony, where they’ll learn the repertoire.
That exposure helps them immeasurably, particularly at their auditions, which are often a hairy experience. It’s often said that we teach our students to play their instruments very well, we teach them to perform all of the concertos, but then, when they go to audition, they have to play five bars of a Beethoven symphony, and that’s more difficult than playing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. There are so many great players looking for positions in symphony orchestras now. The more experience they get, through orchestras like AYS, the better.
Do you think the expectations have changed since when you auditioned?
Not dramatically. Certainly, I think there are more fine musicians now, in every instrument, than there were 30 years ago; and the market has shrunk, so young musicians today are under increasing stress to establish substantial careers.
But, they have the same desire to play their instrument extremely well. When they go to music school, they’re not thinking about what they are going to be doing in five years. I know I didn’t. All I knew was that I wanted to play the cello, and I still feel that way now.
How did you begin your professional career?
When I graduated from Curtis, it just happened that there was an opening in the Cleveland Orchestra. I auditioned and got the job. It was probably the best introduction to working in a professional orchestra that anyone could have had at that time. The Cleveland Orchestra was incredible, especially the strings. Of course, music director George Szell was not the easiest person to work for. He was an extraordinary disciplinarian. Every minute of every rehearsal was focused. You couldn’t sit there and clown around like you do in high school or even in college. You had to be prepared. Mr. Szell had big eyes, and you did not want them to be staring at you!
At what age did you start in the Cleveland Orchestra?
I was 21, and it felt great. In my first rehearsal, we played Beethoven’s Fifth, which I had played with several other orchestras. But with the Cleveland Orchestra, I have to tell you, it was a totally different piece; right from the first few notes.
I was lucky; we all need a bit of luck. But you have to be very good, and be in the right place at the right time, and you never know what that’s going to turn into.
Anything you would recommend to a player in our orchestra today?
I think a lot of young musicians still have to take their training a bit more seriously. As Alex mentioned during rehearsal today, “We had a rehearsal last Saturday and during the week, one forgets”. That’s the problem with the kind of schedule that these orchestras have to have. We tend to think, string players in particular, “I’ll look at the part a little bit, that will be fine, and I’ll learn it in rehearsal”. All of them should be spending time with their music. When you are tremendously talented, you tend to rely too much on your talent. You also need to be prepared. Preparation is the whole ball game.
For many years I conducted the Colburn Chamber Orchestra, which is comprised of high school kids. And it was exactly the same thing. When I was in high school I played football after school every day, but students today have so much more going on. They have to earn credits, and study for SATs, and they don’t get enough sleep or enough exercise.
I loved playing baseball and football growing up. People ask “Didn’t you worry about your fingers?” I never worried about it. But then, I did sprain my thumb a week before I had to audition for the Curtis Institute, and I could barely hold the bow!
