James Ross is presently professor and Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Maryland, associate director of The Juilliard School conducting program, and orchestra director of the National Youth Orchestra USA through Carnegie Hall. He is also music director designate of the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès in Spain. Ross has served as music director of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, as assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and as William Christie’s assistant to Les Arts Florissants. Conducting appearances include the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, to name a few. His principal conducting teachers were Kurt Masur, Otto-Werner Mueller, Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein. James Ross has also appeared as horn soloist with many renowned orchestras in the United States and Europe. He was artistic director of the National Orchestral Institute (NOI) from 2002–12 during which time his leadership served as an impetus for change in the orchestral landscape of the United States.