After 40 years of teaching, conducting and administration at the University of Tulsa, Ron Predl retired from the full time faculty as Emeritus Professor of Music in 2006. During his tenure, he served as Director of Music for eighteen years, Director of the School of Art for three years, Chair of the Division of Fine and Performing arts, Director of Bands and designed and developed the Bachelor of Arts in Arts Administration degree, which includes an optional semester of internship at the London Diorama Arts Centre.
After a national search of candidates, Predl was selected as the first Executive Director of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra in October 2008.
The Tulsa Symphony is breaking ground nationally with a new and different model for symphony orchestras, that of a musician-
led orchestra. TSO musicians serve on the Board, on Board committees and work in the TSO office as Executive Professional Musicians.
Predl received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
In 2003 he received T.U.’s Excellence in Teaching Award for the Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences and in 2006 published TrumpetNaturally, a compilation of trumpet performance techniques presented in a masterclass format.
Predl received the Governor’s Art Award in 2015 and was honored by the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa as the recipient of the 2017 Kathleen P. Westby Lifetime Achievement Award. An Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame inductee, Ron currently serves on the Boards of the London Diorama Arts Centre and Oklahoma Center for the Humanities.
Ron formerly served on the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities and is currently a Board Director for the London Diorama Arts Centre. He retired from TSO in 2019, but returned in April 2023 to serve as Interim Executive Director and facilitate the search to fill the open position.
