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3.15.2001 00:05
Philharmonic hosts (rare) return of the native
The Rhode Island Philharmonic draws big crowds to its concerts. But seating at Vets Auditorium should be extra tight for the orchestra's Saturday outing.
That's because the soloist for the evening will be Ronald Leonard, the Providence native who for many years was principal cellist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Leonard still has a lot of relatives in the Providence area, including three brothers and a sister.
"A lot of them will be coming to the concert," he said. "They're very supportive."
This will be a rare Rhode Island appearance for Leonard, a Hope High grad who played with the Philharmonic in his teens. He was in town six years ago for a program with the Solati Trio, but his only other gig here before that was in 1968, when he and his violinist wife Norma performed the Brahms Double Concerto with the Philharmonic and conductor Francis Madiera.
It's conceivable he'll be visiting the state more often, though. Leonard has quit his post with Los Angeles in the hopes of playing more solo and chamber dates. So far, so good: In the past two weeks, he's appeared with orchestras for performances of the Schumann and Lalo concertos, and Monday he's due back in Los Angeles for a solo recital.
In fact, for a retired guy in his late 60s, Leonard seems busier than ever. Besides his burgeoning solo career, he is head of the string program at the University of Southern California and has also taken a conducting job, leading a string orchestra at a music school for talented teens.
Leonard, who was a member of the search committee for the conducting post, said he never dreamed of taking over the schoool orchestra, in part because he hadn't logged a lot of podium time. But the school was looking more for someone with experience as an orchestra player, someone who could give pointers to young players with hopes of becoming professionals. And that would be Leonard.
A lot of conductors
Besides a quarter-century as first chair in L.A., Leonard played in Cleveland under the legendary George Szell, and was principal cellist in Rochester, where he taught at the Eastman School.
He turned down a chance to become principal in Philadelphia Orchestra to join the famed Vermeer Quartet. But quartet life was not for him, and he left that job to go to L.A.
"I've played in orchestras for a lot of years, and worked with a lot of different conductors," said Leonard from his home in the San Fernando Valley. "And I know what irritated me about them."
Leonard got his start in a family dance band. He was one of seven musical children born to pianist and music teacher Grace Carmody Leonard, and John Leonard, a Providence Fire Department captain who went on to become Providence County's high sheriff. He still likes to jam on the string bass when he gets together with his siblings.
He and his wife have one son, a computer consultant who is about to get married. When he's not playing the cello, Leonard, 67, keeps in shape riding a mountain bike through the woods near his house.
The Rachleff connection
One might suspect Leonard was booked by the Philharmonic because of his Rhode Island connection. That will not hurt. But it turns out he has worked with conductor Larry Rachleff during an annual youth orchestra festival, where Leonard served as a string coach.
Saturday, Leonard will be tackling the Elgar Concerto, not the flashiest piece in the repertoire, but maybe the loveliest. The rest of the program includes the Fifth Symphony of Prokofiev and Christopher Rouse's
Infernal Machine.
The concert will be held at 8 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Tickets are $25 to $45. Call 831-3123.
Tomorrow at 4 p.m., Leonard will give a free master class at Brown University's Grant Recital Hall. The public can watch him work with pre-selected young cellists.
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