Ryan Ross is the Director of Orchestras at Jasper High School, a grade 9/10 campus in Plano, Texas. At Jasper, his students were named the 2014 TMEA Honor Full Orchestra, and they have also ranked as finalists in the string portion of the Honor Orchestra competition. In addition, the Jasper Legacy Orchestra was the 2013 winner of The American Prize for Orchestral Performance. Previously, Mr. Ross taught at Lewisville High School in Lewisville, TX and Williams Middle School in Rockwall, TX, where his orchestras earned consistent UIL Sweepstakes, Best in Class, and Overall Best in Festival awards. He also served for five years as Music Director of the Tyler Youth Orchestra and four seasons as Artistic Director and Conductor for the Dallas Festival of Modern Music and its resident professional chamber ensemble, Ars Nova Dallas.

Originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, Mr. Ross earned his bachelor’s degree in music performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was a conducting student of Donald Schleicher. More recently, he completed a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting at Texas Tech University, studying with Gary Lewis and serving as Graduate Assistant Conductor to the Tech orchestra program. While in Lubbock, Mr. Ross also held a position as Cover Conductor with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Ross has studied conducting in master classes and festivals throughout North America and Europe, including the 2011 Cabrillo Festival. Among the noted pedagogues he has worked with are Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, Larry Rachleff, Joel Smirnoff, and David Hoose. He holds membership in ASTA, TMEA, TODA, and TMAA, and he has presented clinics on multiple occasions at the annual convention of the Texas Orchestra Directors Association.