Flutist John Ross is an accomplished soloist, educator, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. He currently serves on the faculty and administration of the Portland Conservatory of Music in Maine. Prior to his appointment at PCM, he served as Assistant Professor of Music at Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri, and was on the music faculty of West Virginia State University. At WVSU, he developed a chamber music program and worked with the Ilia Musin International Academy of Advanced Conducting to develop the Charleston Chamber Orchestra, a group in residence at the institution. He has also taught on the faculty of the Music for the Sake of Music summer program in Green Bay, Wisconsin and the Sparrow Music Camp in High Springs, Florida, and has taught for the Florida State University Summer Music Camps.
A versatile performer, Dr. Ross has given performances throughout the United States, Canada, Central America, and central Europe, and in such venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and the Lucerna Great Hall in Prague, Czech Republic. He is currently the flutist with Wild Prairie Winds, a professional wind quintet. He has also been principal flute of the Italian-American Opera Festival Orchestra (CA), the Charleston Chamber Orchestra (WV), and Taneycomo Festival Orchestra (MO). He has also performed with the Topeka Symphony, the Muncie Symphony, the Tallahassee Symphony, and the Charleston Light Opera Guild. He has been a featured soloist with the WVSU Wind Ensemble, the Florida State University Symphonic Band, the orchestra of Music for the Sake of Music, and the Butler Philharmonic Orchestra in Hamilton, OH. His flute ensemble Silver Lining Flutes toured around Costa Rica in Spring 2017, performing and giving masterclasses as part of the Promising Artists of the 21st Century series. His folk trios, Cuttin' Bracken and Rakish Ramblers, have performed throughout northern Florida, including multiple performances at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida.
An advocate for new compositions, Dr. Ross has performed on new music concerts and recitals at West Virginia University, Marshall University, the University of Mary Washington, Ball State University, and Jacksonville University, including two national conferences for the Society of Composers, Inc. He is a commissioning member of the Flute New Music Consortium, an organization dedicated to the advancement of the flute repertoire. Dr. Ross was chosen as a winner of the National Flute Association Convention Performers Competition, performing newly-published compositions at the 2015 NFA Convention in Washington, D.C. He has made guest artist appearances with harpist Dr. Jaclyn Wappel at Ball State University, Earlham College, James Madison University, and throughout southern Virginia, performing works based on musical traditions of countries throughout Asia.
Dr. Ross is a graduate of West Virginia University, Ball State, and Florida State University. His primary teachers include Joyce Catalfano, Thomas Godfrey, Francesca Arnone, Mihoko Watanabe, and Eva Amsler. He pursued additional studies with Mary Kay Fink, Liisa Ruoho, Jim Walker, Jan Gippo, Sarah Jackson, and Leone Buyse, and has participated in masterclasses given by Christina Smith, Elizabeth Buck, Jennifer Connor, Jean Ferrandis, Amy Likar, Catherine Ransom Karoly, Elise Shope Henry, Kathryn Lukas, and Carol Wincenc. Dr. Ross is also training to become a certified body mapping educator, studying body mapping with Amy Likar, Liisa Ruoho, David Nesmith, Rena Urso-Trapani, Kelly Mollnow Wilson, and Andrée Martin.