Graham Ross is a conductor, best known as the leader of the
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, but also with wide experience leading a variety of modern orchestras and early music groups.
Ross is also a composer who has written more than 100 works. As a conductor, he has premiered works by some of Britain's most popular composers.
Ross was born in Farnham, in England's Surrey County, on April 29, 1985. He studied violin, piano, organ, and treble vocals as a youth.
Ross attended Clare College, Cambridge, studying composition with
Giles Swayne. In 2004, still a student at Cambridge, he formed his own group, the
Dmitri Ensemble, and served as its conductor.
Ross went on to the Royal College of Music in London, studying conducting with Peter Stark and
Robin O'Neill. He landed a conducting scholarship with the
London Symphony Chorus in 2008 and 2009 and was also the music director of the Concordia Chamber Choir and Kingston Choral Society during this period. In 2010, he became the conductor of the
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, and he has held the position ever since, leading the group on tours of Europe, the U.S., Asia, and Australia.
Ross has also undertaken a wide variety of conducting activities, leading operatic performances in Britain, France, and Israel as well as conducting ensembles as varied as the
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the
Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, and the
Australian Chamber Orchestra. His compositions have been performed by the
BBC Concert Orchestra, the
City of London Sinfonia, and choirs across the UK. As a conductor, he has championed new music.
Ross has given the world premieres of works by composers
John Rutter,
Gabriel Jackson, and
Cecilia McDowall, among others. On recordings, he has programmed works by the likes of
James MacMillan,
Judith Bingham, and
Nico Muhly.
Ross has a large catalog of recordings, some of them predating his time as the conductor of the
Choir of Clare College. In 2009, with the
Dmitri Ensemble, he issued a recording of
MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross. He remains the director of the
Dmitri Ensemble, which has accompanied the
Choir of Clare College on recordings. With the
Choir, he has recorded exclusively for Harmonia Mundi, often releasing several albums a year. The year 2020 saw an album devoted to the
choral music of MacMillan, Arvo Pärt, and Peteris Vasks, and another of Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols.