Artistic Director

Dr. John Stanley Ross is the Director of Bands in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University where he serves on the graduate faculty, conducts the Appalachian Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds and Concert Band, teaches courses in graduate and undergraduate conducting, supervises student teachers, serves as the advisor for Kappa Kappa Psi and the Collegiate National Band Association, and guides all aspects of the ASU BANDS program. He is also the Artistic Director of the Charlotte Pride Band and serves as a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician. Dr. Ross is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States and abroad and has also conducted in England, China, Romania, and South Korea.

Future and past guest conducting engagements include the Dixon Municipal Band, the 2019 North Carolina 11-12 All-State Band, the Southern Methodist University Wind Ensemble, the Royal Hawaiian Band, the Minnesota 9-10 All-State Band, the Kauai Community College Wind Symphony, the Medalist Concert Band, the Sterling Municipal Band, the Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in Romania and numerous regional and district honor bands throughout the United States and abroad. Ensembles under his direction have performed at state and national conferences in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Carolina including the American School Band Directors Association National Convention and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. Awards received include the 2008-2009 Honors Edition of Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals, Phi Beta Mu International School Bandmaster Fraternity, Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Who’s Who In America, Who’s Who for Professionals, the Minnesota Band Directors Association Award, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and the Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association.

He has commissioned and arranged several works for winds and has conducted over thirty world premieres. His performances have been heard on National Public Radio’s Performance Today series and have won the praise and admiration of composers such as John Mackey, Karel Husa, Michael Daugherty, Samuel Adler, David Gillingham, William Harbinson, and David Maslanka, among others. Dr. Ross has studied conducting with John L. Whitwell, H. Robert Reynolds, Larry Rachleff, Frederick Fennell, Elizabeth A. H. Green, Donald Schleicher, Jerry Blackstone, Gary Lewis, and Gustav Meier among many others. Dr. Ross is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Kappa Kappa Psi, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the College Music Society, the National Association for Music Education, and the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.