Biography
Classically trained cellist Ron Clearfield has explored an unusually wide array of musical idioms. His classical résumé includes performances alongside Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland, and Seiji Ozawa, while his pop credits encompass work with George Benson, Linda Ronstadt, and Dionne Warwick. He also appeared as featured solo cellist on Judy Collins’ Christmas Special, broadcast on the A&E network. Clearfield’s own releases, Dream Manifestation and Time on Earth, fuse classical technique with world-music and jazz elements to produce a distinctly atmospheric texture.
A grandson of the Russian-born pianist and teacher who settled in the United States and the son of a clarinetist, Clearfield began violin lessons at age ten and turned to the cello soon afterward. He earned a master’s degree in cello performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and made his professional debut with the Indianapolis Symphony—the same ensemble with which his father had begun his own career more than two decades earlier. After a short tenure there, Clearfield pursued freelance opportunities in Philadelphia, Houston, New York, and Miami. He constructed a home studio, self-produced three albums, and signed with the EverSound label in 1998; Dream Manifestation appeared several months later.
For the past thirty years Clearfield has maintained a regular meditation practice learned from Guru Maharaji. He presently holds the post of associate principal cellist with the Asheville Symphony in Asheville, North Carolina, and leads the Asheville City/Buncombe County Schools Orchestra.
A grandson of the Russian-born pianist and teacher who settled in the United States and the son of a clarinetist, Clearfield began violin lessons at age ten and turned to the cello soon afterward. He earned a master’s degree in cello performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and made his professional debut with the Indianapolis Symphony—the same ensemble with which his father had begun his own career more than two decades earlier. After a short tenure there, Clearfield pursued freelance opportunities in Philadelphia, Houston, New York, and Miami. He constructed a home studio, self-produced three albums, and signed with the EverSound label in 1998; Dream Manifestation appeared several months later.
For the past thirty years Clearfield has maintained a regular meditation practice learned from Guru Maharaji. He presently holds the post of associate principal cellist with the Asheville Symphony in Asheville, North Carolina, and leads the Asheville City/Buncombe County Schools Orchestra.
Albums
