Ronald Steele UMASS-Amherst Music Department Conductor 1963-1997

Ronald A. Steele (1934-2014) was born in Montclair, New Jersey and was the son of Arthur Steele of Sweden and Anna (Ahlquist) of Lanse, Pennsylvania.

At the age of nine, Ronald Steele began his studies on violin. After 20 lessons Ronald Stele gave his first public performance on the violin, and conducted his first orchestra at the age of eleven.  As a teen, Ronald Steele performed extensively in New Jersey and New York, and was a winner on the Original Ted Mack Amateur Hour.

Ronald Steele spent many summers attending the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan where he studied violin with Ottokar Chadek and while studying conducting with Clyde Roller and Orien Dalley, Ronald Steele became the youngest conductor of the Michigan Youth Symphony.

After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in music at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Ronald Steele spent four years playing with the Air Force Symphony Orchestra and the Strolling Strings in Washington D.C.  Following his military service, he became a teaching fellow at the University of Michigan where Ronald studied violin with Gilbert Ross, earning a graduate degree in violin performance, and studied conducting pedagogy with Elizabeth Greene.

Ronald Steele was recruited into the UMASS-Amherst Music Department by Doric Alviani in

1963, where Ronald founded the University Symphony Orchestra. Ronald Steele also studied conducting with Max Rudolf at Tanglewood, and conducted many orchestras during the 1960’s, including District and All-State Orchestras, and professional orchestras in Kansas, Michigan, and New York.

Professor Ronald A. Steele was a distinguished member of the UMASS-Amherst Music Department form 1963-1997. Professor Steele conducted the UMASS Symphony Orchestra which rehearsed about two hours, two nights each week, taught ‘applied educational oriented conducting’ to music education majors. For non-music majors, Professor Steele taught a popular introductory music course.

During the 1970’s, at the request of former student, and this Author’s old friend and classmate, Tom Parker, Mr. Steele turned his popular introductory music course into a nationally-syndicated radio show, The Listening Room, which won FM radio’s highest prize, the Edwin Howard Armstrong Award.

The Author of this essay, was an instrumental performance major as well as instrumental music education major between 1967 and 1972.

As a music education major, ‘applied conducting’ was a core, requisite requirement and the Author of this essay successfully completed Professor Ronald Steele’s ‘applied conducting’ course and was awarded an ‘A’ by Professor Steele.

Professor Steele had excellent conducting skills that were earmarked by a very precise use of the baton with little physical movement of any part of his body other than his constrained arm and head movements. In a nutshell, Professor Steele was a fine symphony orchestra conductor.

This Author was elevated to 1st Chair Trumpet in the UMASS-Symphony Orchestra from 1969-1972 under the direction of Professor Steele. Too make a ‘little extra pocket exchange’, Professor Steele had the Author of this essay notate on all orchestra string parts, ‘bow stroke notations’. This task was exceedingly tedious to perform and paid very little which caused this Author to abandon this ‘extracurricular’ activity after the Fall 1969 semester.

In either the Spring Semester of 1971 or 1972, this Author was a featured trumpet soloist with the UMASS Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Professor Steele.

This Author performed either Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets in C Major  or Francesco Manfredini’s Concerto For 2 Trumpets & Orchestra In D Major. The other trumpet player was this Author’s old friend, and former UMASS first chair trumpet player, Doug Purcell. In the early 1970’s, Doug was wrapping up his Masters in Music Education at UMASS-Amherst.

On a personal note, this Author has always felt that Professor Steele possessed a reserved and somewhat shy personality. However, Professor Steele was always quite cordial to everyone he encountered. And, Professor Steele always greeted all students including Symphony Orchestra members with a friendly Hello followed by the other parties first name.

The Music Department at UMASS was very fortunate to attract and maintain the services of such an outstanding conductor and educator as Professor Ronald Steele from 1963-1997.

For more on Professor Ronald A. Steele, see Obituary as well as a UMASS Faculty Bio.