Ron White

Ron White has been a musician his entire life, and a music educator for over 30 years. His earliest musical experiences were in the public school band programs in Jerseyville, Illinois where he studied the saxophone. In ninth grade, Ron saw a double bass in the band hall and immediately gave up the saxophone to become a bassist.

After high school, Ron attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas to study bass with Clifford Spohr, Principal Emeritus of the Dallas Symphony. Before long Ron became the Principal Bassist of the SMU Chamber Orchestra and Associate Principal Bassist of the Dallas Civic Symphony.

After obtaining his Bachelor of Music degree from SMU, Ron embarked on a teaching career in public schools. He began in Richardson ISD near Dallas where he was mentored by Joe Frank and Howard Dunn. Ron would spend 26 of the next 31 years as an orchestra Director in the Dallas ISD, the College Station ISD and most recently, the Klein ISD. Early on he gained a reputation as a mover and shaker who could take a fledgling orchestra program and transform it into a large and highly successful program and a source of pride for the school and the community.

Ron White orchestras have consistently received the highest award at Texas UIL Competitions as well as national and international competitions. His orchestras have performed in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York as well as Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. In 1996 the A&M Consolidated Orchestra was invited by the Chinese National Television to perform in Beijing and Shanghai.

Now retired from teaching in the public schools, Ron has a thriving bass studio, freelances as a bassist and is active as an adjudicator and consultant. He is also the founder and administrator of the Houston North Bass Camp. He is a member of TMEA, ASTA, TODA, and ISB.

Ron White has been active as a bassist his entire life. His first professional gig was at the age of 15. He has performed in a variety of musical setting including orchestras, blues bands, rock bands, jazz bands and musical theater. He has also worked or studied with many of the nation’s top musical professionals including David Baker, Barry Green, Richard Davis, and Dyan Canon.

In or about the year 1993 a friend told Ron about a new piano player in town and they headed to the College Station Hilton Hotel to check him out. There they found Greg Tivis in the lounge performing in a piano bar setting. After hearing a few numbers and even trying to stump Greg with a few obscure requests, Ron introduced himself by saying “welcome to College Station, I’m Ron White and I want to be your bass player!” It was a match made in heaven.

For almost 2 decades Ron White and Greg Tivis have been playing together on a regular basis. Having recorded four albums together and played countless shows they know each other’s playing so well they can anticipate what the other is going to do before it happens! Like Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown, Greg Tivis and Ron White are a musical force to be reckoned with, so buckle your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!