About
Ross Venneberg is a trumpeter, conductor, and educator based in Indianapolis. He is Director of Instrumental Activities and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Franklin College, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and Athletic Band, and teaches brass lessons, brass methods and pedagogy, conducting and score preparation, survey of orchestra and band literature, instrumental performance seminar, and introduction to music. Prior to this appointment, he held graduate teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Washington.
As a trumpeter, Ross has performed with a variety of professional ensembles, including the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Lake Washington Symphony, Symphony Napa Valley, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, St. James Cathedral Brass (Seattle), Seattle Chamber Brass, and The Bay Brass. His recording credits include CDs with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and Chanticleer, a promotional Pepsi video for Super Bowl XLVIII, and an appearance on the TV show Madam Secretary.
During the summers, he has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Marrowstone Music Festival, Miami Music Festival, and Spoleto Festival USA. He has toured with orchestras in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Slovakia in concert halls such as the Musikverein (Vienna), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Philharmonie Berlin, Smetana Hall (Prague), Kurhaus Wiesbaden, and the Philharmonie am Gasteig (Munich). He has been fortunate to play under renowned conductors Ludovic Morlot, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Ross has been a featured soloist with the University of California Berkeley Symphony, UW-Milwaukee Youth Wind Ensemble, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp Orchestra. He has collaborated with the organists of the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony in solo performances at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (NYC) and St. Ignatius Church (SF). He has performed chamber music at the Seattle Opera Gala, Chamber Music Milwaukee, and with members of the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony.
As a conductor, Ross founded and directed the University of Washington Brass, which presented annual Holiday Brass concerts and was invited to perform at the 2018 and 2019 Northwest Brass Festival. He also served as a co-director of the UW Campus Band and conducted the Chamber Winds on tour in China. At UW-Milwaukee, Ross served as co-conductor of the University Band, assistant conductor of the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band, and assistant director of the Panther Basketball Band. Additionally, Ross has conducted the University of Washington Wind Ensemble, the Northwest Brass Festival Ensemble, and the Sitka Brass Ensemble, an ensemble featuring top brass musicians from around the country.
An advocate for education and outreach, Ross has held teaching positions at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, UW-Milwaukee Youth Wind Ensemble, Manhattan School of Music Arts-in-Education and Distance Learning programs, and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. He is a certified adjudicator for the Indiana State School Music Association and has also served as a judge for events at the Alaska State Solo & Ensemble Music Festival and the University of Indianapolis. Ross has presented master classes and lectures on a variety of topics at the University of Washington, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle University, Saint Martin's University, Presbyterian College, Western Colorado University, Franklin College, Saint Mary's College, and in China at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and Tsinghua University.
Born and raised in Sitka, Alaska, Ross earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Saint Mary's College of California, Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music (trumpet) and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (conducting), and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington. His dissertation detailed the pedagogical philosophies of renowned trumpeter Mark Gould and its findings are featured in the International Trumpet Guild Journal (October 2021) and in the book Gould on Music: Playing, Studying, Teaching, and Preparing for the Future. His former teachers and mentors include John Climer, Kevin Hartman, David Gordon, Timothy Salzman, Mark Gould, Adam Luftman, and Roger Schmidt.
