Robert A.M. Ross (b. 1955) is a graduate of Temple University, with degrees in music education, conducting and composition. He is Artistic and Music Director of Voces Novae et Antiquae (a professional choral ensemble in Philadelphia), and choirmaster, professional chorister and assistant to the cantor at Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park, PA. For ten years he has been Music Director of the Mak’helat Beth Sholom (Singers of Beth Sholom) at Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill, NJ. Two years ago, he was appointed to the full-time music faculty of Community College of Philadelphia where he teaches Music Theory and History and directs the CCP Vocal Ensemble. Mr. Ross is extremely active in the Philadelphia area music scene. As a conductor, he has appeared with Pennsylvania Pro Musica, Philadelphia Chamber Chorus, Temple University Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, Symphony Club Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Gregg Smith Singers and Adirondack Chamber Orchestra, and the South Jersey Jewish Community Choir. As a singer he has appeared at numerous area synagogues and churches as both chorister and soloist, including the title role in three performances of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, PA in May, 1999, and, in May 2005 as soloist in Ernest Bloch’s Avodath Hakodesh with the Delaware Valley Chorale in Wilmington under the direction of Charles Walker. His compositional catalog numbers well over 150 works, including many choral works, three cantatas, two symphonies, several instrumental chamber works, and experimental pieces; he has a growing number of works in print from Coronet Press, Theodore Presser Company, Thomas House and Psalm 150 Publications (both now represented by Hal Leonard), Oxford University Press, and Laurendale Associates. His works have been recorded on the Premier label by the Gregg Smith Singers and the Arkay label by Voces Novae et Antiquae. Mr. Ross’ honors include composition prizes from the Stowe Institute (Stowe, VT), the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia/James Madison University. Mr. Ross was a recipient of Meet the Composer grants between 1993 and 1997 at the Adirondack Festival of American Music, where he also served as General Manager of the Festival and performed with and conducted the Gregg Smith Singers, and has been an annual ASCAPlus award recipient for the past ten years. In 2001 the Chamber Choir Cantinovum of the Jyväskylä Polytechnic Institute of Jyvaskyla, Finland commissioned from Mr. Ross a setting of Psalm 51 in Hebrew for chorus and string orchestra, which was premiered March 29, 2002. He was also awarded in 2001 a commission from the Adath Jeshurun Choral Society (Congregation Adath Jeshurun, Elkins Park, PA) for Hear, O Heavens, a cantata with libretto by Esta Cassway on texts from Isaiah which was premiered by Voces Novae et Antiquae in June 19, 2002 under Mr. Ross’ direction. Mr. Ross appears regularly as a clinician at the North American Jewish Choral Festival, having presented workshops in performance practice in Baroque, Classic-era and Romantic-era Jewish choral music, how to be a better choral singer, and notation software for Jewish musicians.