Music has always been a big part of Ross's life. Ross took piano lessons for as long as he can remember. He did piano recitals and did NYSSMA (nys school music assocation) where he did piano competitions. There were strict grading criteria on scales and performance pieces. He would work on a higher level each year. Ross also played the trumpet from the 4th grade until 12th, it wasn't his passion but he enjoyed playing in the band. Ross learned classical piano, fur elise, rondo alla turca, then moved on to harder pieces like moonlight sonata movement 1, bach minuet in F,  beetoven minuet in G. Moving on to chopin op 9 num 2, chopin posthemous c sharp minor. He then fell in love with the romantics. He learned but never finished 3 other chopin nocturnes. He learned arabasque no. 1 by debussy, he learned liebestraum, then the last piece he learned before switching to jazz was un sospiro. He then dived head first into jazz music. He had a fantastic music teacher in highschool who was also the band teacher. He was an amazing sax player who used to be a live set musician and was quite successful. He didn't need to be teaching at a school but it was his passion. He inspired Ross greatly as he took 2 years of IB musi theory and explored deeply into music theory, modes, jazz, and other cultures through music. Ross learned giant steps, fell in love with bossa nova, and miles davis. <private note> Although his passion waned a little in college as he was busy with life, he still yearns to knock the rust off and play with others </private note>