A son of Boston, John Andrew Ross was born December 15, 1940, to Olga E. and Melville E. Ross. After an extended illness, he died June 12, 2006. His sister Paula Ann Ross of Boston survives him.
John grew up in Roxbury, attended Boston public schools and later attended Boston University where he majored in church music. He studied piano with Arabella Hinton and Edith Stearns, organ with Theodore Marier and Max Miller, and voice with David Blair McCloskey and Donna Roll. John was well prepared for a career as a vocal and keyboard recitalist, composer, and arranger.
Well known for his elegance manner and his cheerful disposition, John was a wonderful conversationist, and enjoyed a great fondness for fine foods. Those who worked closely with him also knew that he tended to be late about everything except performances.
In late l969, John became chairman of the Department of Music at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts (ELSFA) where he oversaw a staff of more than forty full and part-time music teachers serving the needs on more than four hundred students.
After hiring Betty Hillmon as Director of Musical Instruction in l972, he increasingly devoted his attention to the building the choral ensemble Children of Black Persuasion and its adult counterpart Voices of Black Persuasion. This endeavor benefited from his excellent teaching, as well as his skills as an arranger and performance coach.
Simultaneously, John served as Director of the Music Division of the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA), the professional organization that paralleled the teaching programs of ELSFA until both were merged in the mid-1980s. In this capacity, John was responsible for several professional entities, including the NCAAA Big Band under the artistic direction of Jakki Byard, the Heritage Ensemble under the artistic direction of M. Babatunde Olatunji.
Along with Elma Lewis, John was at the center of special musical programs involving noted pianist Randy Weston, Jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, and composer Noel DaCosta as well as the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Under his direction, Voices of Black Persuasion toured internationally singing at festivals in Brazil, Surinam, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Senegal, West Africa. Often, he also lectured on black music in association with these performances.
John organized musical and performing arts events for other venues across New England including numerous shows for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum, and many colleges and universities.
He also produced a variety of musical segments for television and radio, including Emmy nominated SAY BROTHER’s “Something About the Blues” and “Blues and Gone”, a tribute to Duke Ellington choreographed by Billy Wilson (Bubbling Brown Sugar on Broadway).
He collaborated on the WGBH-TV documentary on the great singer Roland Hayes. When the Tony Award-winning musical Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope played an engagement in Boston, John conducted its music.
John will always be associated with the NCAAA’s singular interpretation of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity for which he was Musical Director from l970 until his death.
Creating new arrangements and edits, John reinvented Black Nativity using both children and adults, African percussion, and the extraordinary choreography of his associate in dance George Howard. His Black Nativity has brought joy to tens of thousands since it was first performed, and has become a seasonal favorite in Boston.
Beyond the NCAAA, John provided music for various events; funerals, weddings, church services including serving as summer organist for Marsh Chapel Sunday Worship (WBUR-Radio) at Boston University. Increasingly, his music became a ministry, leading to his ordination in 1997 as Minister of Music at First Parish in Brookline where he found a vibrant community of music lovers.
Among the many special projects undertaken by John were the artistic arrangements and production of the CD Comin’ Up Shoutin’ with Revels, Inc.; and the arrangements and music for two children’s books illustrated by Ashley Bryan—What a Morning: The Christmas Story in African-American Spirituals and Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: Heroes of the Bible in African American Spirituals.
John received many honors, including a Life Achievement Award (2006) from the Friends of the Urban League, Music and Theater Award (2005) from the Tri-Ad Veterans League, and a reception in his honor by the NCAAA and the Cast of Black Nativity celebrating his contributions to music and the arts.
In greater Boston, John Andrew Ross was a graceful and defining presence, mentoring performers, shaping the NCAAA’s longstanding mission of bringing music to the world, and embodying the vision of his mentor and friend Elma Lewis. Unselfishly, he gave his remarkable talents as teacher, performer, and humanist to the community that he loved.
