Interview with Ronald Williams, co-founder of the Argenta Trio Conducted by Forrest Hartman (with additions and edits by Ronald Williams)
Age: 83 City of Residence: Reno, NV Years with Argenta: 1961 - 1997
Forrest: Do you remember the years you were involved with the Argenta Trio? Ron: Oh yes – the Trio occupied a large part of my life at UNR. Before I was hired in 1959, the music department was small; three positions. I replaced the pianist, and new positions were established for band and strings. Our violinist came from southern California: Harold Goddard, a solid performer who began building a string program for the university and the local community. The cello position was added in 1966 with Geoffrey Rutkowsky, an excellent teacher and performer. But there was not officially a departmental trio until his arrival, and the ensemble has been going since except for, I think, one or two years when the violin position remained vacant. The present name, my suggestion, was adopted in 1988. Forrest: Why did you and the other founding members decide to start the trio? Ron: It wasn’t exactly a conscious effort, as we didn’t have facilities or personnel until Geoffrey arrived. Goddard and I enjoyed playing music together and we regularly programmed violin sonatas and small mixed ensemble works, but we had no professional cellist. There were few cellists in the city probably because the instrument wasn’t normally used in the house bands. Forrest: They were playing pop music? Ron: Yes, the standard pop-style show music. The bands often used professional violins and string basses, but there were local amateur cellists, enough for orchestral support of the annual performances of “Messiah” at the university. Actually, the first professionally trained cellist on the university faculty was the director of the new Desert Research Institute, Dr. Wendell Mordy. He was quite a high-level cellist who had considered a musical career before going into atmospheric physics. We think the three of us introduced the area to its first trio concerts. The local culture was strongly interested in classical music at that time. A lot of our faculty had taught or been trained in Eastern schools where chamber music was part of the culture, and they proved very supportive of our performances. Also, many of the entertainment industry musicians had been in conservatories, and the quality of professional performance was generally quite high, with some extraordinary players. It was interesting to mesh the two. As the university developed its own orchestra and established a community orchestra, the local professionals were very important and involved. It was 1961 when we decided to have a permanent trio, as we enjoyed making music with Dr. Mordy. He held faculty status in the DRI, so we could logically appear as the UNR Faculty Trio. Chamber Music is a special style that is very appealing to audiences, and we soon had great support from faculty and the community. However, UNR was still small. The music department was still small and we were all teaching full-time. Our performing was expected – on a par with academic research – but not part of our job descriptions. After moving into the Church Fine Arts Building, we all remained very busy with teaching overloads – but we continued the performances. Forrest: It must have been very important to you since you kept it going even though you were teaching so much. Ron: It was. We felt that it was part of our job to appear in public and be “musical ambassadors” for classical music, to get people interested in supporting it, and especially to get young people interested and involved. Gradually, the department grew and we added an actual cello position. Soon, we had a couple of graduate assistants, one in strings and one in piano. It wasn’t until the 1980s that contract time was even unofficially allotted to us for trio concert preparation. That allowed us to do a certain amount of touring. The trio performed, I think, in practically every Nevada city that had a decent piano available. Forrest: The players in Argenta today do a lot of solo playing along with teaching and performing with the trio. It doesn’t sound like you, early on, had the time to do that. Ron: Still, we took the time and usually all did solo recitals every year in addition to the chamber music programs. We all did this as part of our “outreach.” Forrest: Did you do that mostly locally or did you travel? Ron: Primarily, it was local, although the trio did play a number of times through connections at Tahoe, South Shore, a couple of times at North Shore. I think South Shore was the only out-of-state concerts we did. We also did personal programs both in- and out-of-state. Forrest: Did you also play with any of the show bands? Ron: I don’t think any of us did, but I can’t speak for (cellist) John (Lenz). That’s just not our idiom – they (classical and show music) are quite different. But I probably played concertos six or eight times with the University-Community Symphony, which predated the Philharmonic and the Reno Chamber Orchestra, and with several small orchestras in the Bay area. Forrest: You said you came up with the name Argenta. Can you give me the history on that? Ron: My first wife and I were on a Nevada Humanities tour featuring Music from Nevada – she was a vocalist – and we were driving east on Highway 50. At the side of the road we saw a sign reading “Argenta.” “That’s interesting,” I said, “that’s a silver ore. Must be an old mining town.” Well, we didn’t go to the old mine, but I liked the sound of it as a possible name for the trio. We didn’t want to be thought of as only the University Trio, and we liked the idea of some sort of independence to do things outside the academic area, not remain known as just a local, academic group. My colleagues liked the name, and we thought, “Yeah, that would work.” Forrest: What year was that? Ron: It was 1987 that we adopted the name Argenta. Earlier, for a few years, we had taken the name Bell’Arte. Even then we were doing regular trio performances, sometimes twice a year. Forrest: When you were starting the group, did you have any expectation that it would be going strong nearly 60 years later? Ron: I had no idea, but I find it very gratifying. Most classical instrumentalists really enjoy playing chamber music. It is a unique form, a unique style. It provides things that solo performance doesn’t – it is a collaborative venture, music that individuals, each on a single part, still play as unit. Its origins were performances by small groups in private chambers, private quarters, and it still offers a great amount of opportunity for individual interpretation but within the context of the overall performance. That’s rather unique. Audiences find it attractive, and the music itself can be quite remarkable – and the amount and variety is almost inexhaustible. Forrest: Was chamber music always one of your favorite styles to play? Ron: Yes, because it’s actually fun – even joyful – to play. I think trio repertoire is especially interesting because each player is still independent. It isn’t quite like a marriage, but it has the same kind of responsibilities of concern, attention, inter-relationship, support – very unique and very, very rewarding. I’ve had some of my grandest musical experiences playing chamber music. Forrest: You saw many incarnations of the Argenta Trio over the years. How much did the trio change as members would rotate in and rotate out? Ron: I don’t feel the interpersonal dynamics seemed to alter much with the personnel changes. Of course, each of the violinists brought specific strengths and specific interests, and each cellist was unique. We all came from different backgrounds, different experiences, different training. But I never felt that anyone attempted to be a particular star or impose his personality. We were a collaborative unit and mutually supportive. Any changes were simply a natural and gradual development over time. Certainly (violinist) Philip Ruder brought a much different kind of experience as a symphony orchestra concertmaster, but he was never authoritative. I never felt any overt temperament among us – it was always an interesting collaborative venture. I don’t know of anything similar, not even in acting and drama, with the kind of relationship that must develop there. Forrest: Considering how long the group has been around, it seems like there wasn’t much conflict. That seems fairly remarkable. Ron: We all felt the primary responsibility was to the music, and there isn’t any place there for “personalities” other than the composer’s. Honestly, I do not remember harsh words or a bad temper in rehearsal or performances during the entire time. And, as a player, one is responsible individually – you are it. You haven’t four or 14 other violinists playing along – the music is so written that each individual part is absolutely vital within the whole. There really isn’t any place for personalities. Forrest: The present trio seems to have benefits that you didn’t have in the early days. The players tell me their contracts are now 40 percent performance and 60 percent teaching, so they can dedicate almost half their time to getting out in the public eye. Ron: That’s grand, definitely nice – and well deserved. Forrest: It seems to be paying dividends. They say it works as a university recruiting tool. If people know who Argenta is, they may want to come here and study with those players. Ron: Absolutely true. The scholarship program is expanding remarkably. However, I find it especially interesting that the expansion of the arts in the academic institution seems to be almost in direct contrast to a contraction in the importance of classical music in the national psyche. Forrest: Are you troubled by the way classical music is seen in America today? Ron: Very troubled. We have phenomenal young professional pianists in the United States – as we have phenomenal performing musicians all over the world. But there are few full-time jobs for them, and it’s at the point that practically none can support a solo career. They must be connected with major orchestras, almost all of which are now having financial problems and some even dying off. I really feel I can’t encourage someone to become a professional concert pianist. How are you going to finance it? How will you support a career? What are your contacts? So, what are your options? It is fantastic that Reno can have a philharmonic and a chamber orchestra and ballet and opera, but there is only a single pool of musicians. The same musicians are doing all the playing and it’s still hardly a living wage. We also have terrific young conductors, but we can’t support them unless they juggle several appointments. Forrest: Is there any hope? Do you see any signs of it getting better or does it all look gloomy? Ron: I’m not normally a pessimist. I see some signs in the schools, yet young people are so bombarded by “commercial music,” and classical art music is not very commercial. Forrest: The interesting thing is that, although classical music isn’t commercial, fans are still listening to music composed hundreds of years ago, whereas the latest song by Ke$ha will probably be forgotten in six months. Ron: In the present world, the concert of historical art music is just not attractive to young people unless they are terribly, completely taken over by it. The major support for classical music, at least in the last 100 years, has been the classical musicians themselves, the people willing to play and to keep the Denver Symphony alive while working three-quarter time selling shoes on the side. Forrest: Although you are retired from the university, you are still involved in music. What are you doing? Ron: I still have a few students – private teaching, certainly not a full load. I do an annual recital, and half of the program I’m working on now is brand new stuff. I’ve played for Artown for about eight years. And I’m trying to get a sort of book of my experiences put together for my daughter. I’m through her high school graduation now, but there is still career stuff and commentary from where she started college and began living her own life. Forrest: Is she a musician also? Ron: She’s still very interested in music, and she loves music. She played violin in school orchestra and studied piano, but she didn’t pursue music extensively because she was interested in so many other things as well. Forrest: What does she do? Ron: She lives in Virginia and has her own small manufacturing company. Forrest: That’s quite different from music. Ron: Quite. At UNR she had a double major and went directly into law enforcement at the University before being accepted for the U.S. Secret Service. She had some very interesting assignments, but when she decided to marry, the conflict of careers was too much. She headed security for Honeywell in Arizona for a few years, then moved to Virginia where this business opportunity opened. We don’t get to see her very much; it’s a long way back. Forrest: We’ve talked a lot about Argenta history. Can I get you to talk about your youth? Ron: Both sides of my family are from northwestern Kentucky, and were firmly planted there in the tri-state area where Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky meet along the Ohio River. When I was in the fourth grade, we moved to a small town in Lincoln Country in southern Indiana, and I graduated high school there. My mother taught high school commercial arts. After my first year in college, she had finished her master’s degree and became the first woman high school principal in the state. My piano teacher had graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory. Forrest: What drew you to music? It doesn’t sound like your parents were musicians. Ron: My father could play piano a bit “by ear” but there was no family tradition or interest. It seems I was always interested in music, and this teacher was willing to start me before I began school – an exception to her usual rule. Upon graduation from high school, I had a 4-year Rector Scholarship to DePauw Universty, a Methodist college with a long history of excellence in music. I was there for four years: majored in piano, did a little composition, learned pipe organ, wrote a couple of small operas and the annual full-scale campus musical revue. Then, I joined the staff of Purdue University Musical Organization as their professional pianist. Their glee club had recently won the Fred Waring college competition, and we were invited to do a State Department tour of Western Germany. We were in an Army plane in flight to Berlin when the Korean War broke out – very interesting. Then, I completed a master’s degree in piano at Indiana University where I also did composition and wrote their annual all-student show. After being drafted, I luckily ended up in the 6th Armored Division Band in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Forrest: Those are fine bands, right? Ron: Quite good. And from there I was on assignment to the Navy School of Music. After discharge, I began a doctorate in piano at Indiana University as one of the first graduate assistants in opera. After three years on the faculty of a Presbyterian college in Emporia, Kansas, the position at UNR opened. I loved the Kansas school, but it was a four-man department and very much a dead end. I learned a lot, accomplished a lot, and enjoyed my work there, but the school had financial problems and finally closed a year after I moved to Reno. Forrest: That was fortuitous timing for you. Ron: The department in Reno was also quite small, but the position was very attractive: The music department was ready to move into new facilities, the staff was expanding, the entire state was growing and bursting with vitality. I’ve been here ever since. Forrest: Was teaching always the direction you wanted your career to take? Ron: Yes. Forrest: You weren’t thinking about becoming a concert pianist? Ron: No, I learned early that I was not dedicated exclusively to the keyboard – there is too much other wonderful music, but piano is my specific field. I still do a little composition and have a few things published, but I’m not a composer as such. Forrest: At UNR did you teach anything besides piano? Ron: In a small department you teach what is necessary or what is left over. My musical education was pretty broad: a doctorate in composition, master’s degrees in both composition and piano, and minors in music history, theory, organ and art history. In Reno, I had a wonderful tenure for 20 years or so as organist-choir director for St. John’s Presbyterian Church – a wonderful choir with a nurturing staff and congregation. The music program there was the genesis of the Reno Pops Orchestra, which is still going well. Great fun. Forrest: You’ve been here a long time. Is it safe to say you like Reno? Ron: I absolutely love Reno and Nevada, the people, the space. Whenever I go back to the Midwest or to the East coast, I feel like I’m drowning in trees. Here, there’s wonderful open sky. I can go up to Tahoe if I get tree hungry. I have never been homesick for the flatlands of Indiana and Kansas, but I do miss having an extended family here. Forrest: Is it just you and your wife that live here? Ron: Yes. While both sides of my family were quite extensive, they were never particularly close. It’s interesting that I feel rather like the white sheep of the family. Forrest: How so? Ron: I was the only one really interested at all in the arts. My mother did a lot of genealogical research and found only a single member who even was noted as playing the piano. There’s no family tradition at all. Forrest: Did you ever consider leaving the University of Nevada, Reno? Ron: Nevada, being so small at the time and having such strong active arts support in addition to the entertainment industry, really gave me so many opportunities that I never considered leaving the area. And when my daughter was born here, there was just no way I would have moved. It is still a wonderful place to raise a family. I’ve told people that I’ve seen so many changes in the city and surroundings, and while I don’t necessarily appreciate all of them, I would never want Reno and Nevada to return to what it was like in 1960. Forrest: Why is that? Ron: It has become even better as it has become older, and one does have to adjust to change. Forrest: When you say better, what are some of the things you like? Ron: I think there is a lot more arts activity. Recreational facilities are certainly broader and better. The food has always been very good. And Nevadans, the core people in the area, have stayed as nice and solid as they were in that day and age. But I still remember watching the MGM go up and watching the ring road being started and worrying what on Earth are they doing that for? Today, the city has expanded far outside the ring road. I remember there was still empty land between Reno and Sparks when I first arrived. Things change, but now is better. Forrest: Were you pleased with the type of students you had at UNR? Ron: Generally we’ve always had good, solid, dedicated students. Of course, some were much less advanced than others, but all seemed to be very involved and dedicated to what they were doing. I don’t think I could have asked for “better” students, and the vast majority of my colleagues have been absolutely top notch. Forrest: Since you still actively play, I’m curious about how much you practice these days? Ron: Depends. Some days I can’t get to the piano, and some days I’m there three or four hours. Forrest: It depends on the schedule? Ron: It depends on whatever else is there pressing. But I’m not under any time pressure. Some of the music on my next recital is somewhat tricky, so I’ve started a bit earlier. Usually, I don’t begin more than six months ahead of the recital. But I’m in the middle of this and everything will be memorized, even though I no longer play completely from memory. I keep the music in front of me, as I trust my eyes a bit more than I do my memory. I do appreciate my page turner! Forrest: Do you still enjoy practicing? Ron: Actually, yes. As I tell my students: Practicing is hard work and you won’t enjoy it unless you actually are accomplishing something. If you just sit and go through the motions, it’s dull, frustrating, and unpleasant labor. I hate that. So, I’m going to always accomplish something – and it’s worked out fine. It’s especially interesting now to redo a piece I may have programmed 10, 20, even 30 years ago. Two years ago, I selected a piece that was perfect to fill out a program and began working on it. I didn’t remember a thing about it. At that time, I was also going through all my old programs to check the literature and see when and where I had played everything. There was the piece! In 1966, I had played it on one of my doctoral recitals, and now I couldn’t remember a single note of it. After a couple of weeks of practicing, a flash came through about one particular problem spot I was having. I could remember the specific difficulty but absolutely nothing was left in my fingers. Forrest: You had none of the muscle memory? Ron: None of the muscle memory (after half a century!) and no intellectual memory other than the one problem, but I knew that now I could do it so much better, do so much more with the music than I did at that time. I did wish I had known more when I tried it the first time, but redoing is reassuring and a very grateful experience. One of the delights of really good music is you can keep returning to it and it still provides you with something new, something different. Not only are you finding more, you have so much more to attack it with. Such practicing results in the joy of pulling all sorts of new things out of past experiences. Forrest: I think you’ve answered all my questions. Is there anything you would like to add? |
Name: Ronald Williams