With “The Music Always Comes First!” as his lifelong motto, Ron Streicher began his career in music as a pianist, percussionist, and choral conductor, and presently is an independent audio consultant and recording engineer specializing in live performances. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music from UCLA, and then a Master of Arts in Communications Arts from Loyola University in Los Angeles.

His interest in recording developed while a volunteer for the music department of a public radio station in LA; that avocation subsequently evolved into a career that now spans more than four decades. His many projects for public radio include sound design and production of numerous radio plays, national broadcasts of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the California Chamber Symphony, the Monday Evening Concert series, and several other Southern California chamber music series. His work has been heard over National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System networks.

Among the many record companies for which Ron has worked are Angel, Brio, CMS Desto, CRI, Discovery, Koch International, Omega Record Classics, Pilz, Protone, RCA, and SAZ Records. Recording projects have taken him as far afield as Karachi, Shanghai, and twice to Moscow to record the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra.

Ron joined the engineering staff and faculty of the Audio Recording Institute of the Aspen Music Festival and School in 1988, and from 1995-2005 he served as Audio Production Manager for the Music Festival. Prior to Aspen, Ron designed and supervised concert sound reinforcement for the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York City Opera productions at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, where he was the audio consultant for eleven seasons.

His book, The New Stereo Soundbook (initially co-authored with F. Alton Everest in 1992) is now in its third edition. It has gained worldwide recognition as a standard reference on the subject of stereophonic perception, recording, and reproduction techniques. (www.stereosoundbook.com)

A Fellow and Life Member of the Audio Engineering Society, Ron served as AES President in 2003/4. He continues to be actively involved with its educational activities and has given numerous presentations to AES meetings throughout the world. In recognition of his long-term service to the Society, Ron was awarded the AES Bronze Medal in 1995 and the Distinguished Service Medal Award in 2010.