Artists

Ronald Thomas, Artistic Director

Cellist Ronald Thomas has been Artistic Director of Chestnut Hill Concerts since 1989. Mr. Thomas sustains one of the most active and varied careers in today's music world as performer, teacher, and artistic administrator. His solo appearances with orchestra include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Handel & Haydn and Pro Arte Chamber Orchestras of Boston, and the Blossom Festival Orchestra among many others. Mr. Thomas has played recitals in virtually every state in the U.S. including the cities of New York, Washington D.C., Boston and Los Angeles as well as numerous concerts in Europe and Asia.

In great demand as a chamber music collaborator, Ronald Thomas is the co-founder and artistic director of the Boston Chamber Music Society with whom he appears regularly and has produced a number of highly acclaimed recordings. He has also appeared numerous times with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both at Alice Tully Hall and on tour. Other chamber music appearances include the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Bravo! Colorado Chamber Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the Blossom Festival, the Chamber Music Northwest Festival, The Sarasota Festival and the Yale at Norfolk Festival as well as the festivals of Dubrovnik, Edinburgh and Amsterdam and others. Mr. Thomas is the artistic director of Chestnut Hill Concerts of Madison, CT and, until 2002, was a founding member of the Resident Artists committee and the Board of Overseers at Bargemusic in New York City. While he was member of the Boston Musica Viva and the Aeolian Chamber Players he premiered countless new works including those by Gunther Schuller, Michael Colgrass, Ellen Zwillich, Donald Erb, William Bolcom, and William Thomas McKinley.

Ronald Thomas is former member of the faculties at M.I.T., Brown University, the Boston Conservatory and the Peabody Conservatory. 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 Munroe, David Soyer, and for early studies, Mary Canberg.