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. ~ James Manheim, Rovi