BEN ROSS

Baritone Ben Ross is most happy when collaborating with other artists to create meaningful work that inspires action in audiences. Focusing on issues in gender, queer representation, and amplifying the voices of the unheard and underperformed, their work uses the language of contemporary classical music tell new stories. Comfortable in opera, choral music, art song, early music, and musical theatre, they have been an active performer in the Chicago area and beyond, appearing in roles with Thompson Street Opera, Transgressive Opera Theatre, KJR Studio Productions, Janus Concert Series, and The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Chicago.

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Since recently relocating to Baltimore, they have been featured in several productions with the Peabody Opera Theatre. Recently, they stepped in as Jupiter in Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers with the Opera Company of Middlebury, Vermont, where they were a covering the role as a Young Artist. They have also participated in Young Artist Programs with Cedar Rapids Opera

and Chicago Summer Opera.

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Ben is regularly engaged in work as an artist activist. As a founding member of Chicago Artists for Action, they have provided music for protests, activist gatherings, and peace-builiding workshops throughout Illinois. They were also featured on the first album of original art songs by the LYNX Project, an organization that helps to amplify the poetry of primarily non-speaking autistic poets.

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Ben has also been a member of several vocal ensembles throughout the Midwest including Common Pulse, Chicago Choral Artists, Vocal Artists of Iowa, and the Marion Consort. Other Midwestern appearances include performances as a featured soloist with the Southeastern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Fairfield Concert Association, and University of Iowa Orchestra.

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Ben is currently an MM candidate at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University where they are student of William Sharp and the Graduate Assistant for Piano Technology. They are also the recipient of the George W. Geyer III Endowed Scholarship, a full tuition award that supports their graduate study, Previously, they received their undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa with Stephen Swanson, where they were the recipient of the Eileen Muriello Memorial Scholarship.

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