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The Canadian-born music pedagogue, writer and tenor singer, Ross W. Duffin, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from University of Western Ontario in London (1973). He obtained his Master of Arts degree (1974) and his D.M.A. degree (1977) from Stanford University in California, where he specialized in the performance practice of early music - basically the manner in which music from earlier centuries was performed.
Ross Duffin served at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, member of adjunct faculty in early music, (1976-1977); McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Assistant Professor of Music (1977-1978). Ross Duffin came to Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio in July 1978 to direct the nationally recognized early music program and seved there as Assistant Professor of Music (1978-1986), Fynette H. Kulas Associate Professor of Music (1986-1995), Chair, department of music (1993-1998), Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music until retuirement (1995-2018).
Ross Duffin has made a name for himself as a scholar in a wide range of musical repertoires, publishing articles on music from the 13th to the 18th centuries. His two main specializations have been Franco-Flemish music of the 15th century and English music of the Jacobean period. His edition of DuFay chansons won the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society for work of benefit to both scholars and performers, and his edition of Josquin motets was published in 1998 by Oxford University Press. In 2000 appeared A Performer’s Guide to Medieval Music (Indiana) which he edited with contributions from two dozen of the world’s leading medieval music perfomers and scholars. Among his English music publications are Richard Davy: St. Matthew Passion (A-R Editions, 2011), Cantiones Sacrae: Madrigalian Motets from Jacobean England (A-R Editions, 2005) and Shakespeare’s Songbook (W.W. Norton, 2004), a study of all the vocal music from Shakespeare’s plays, which won the inaugural Claude V. Palisca Award from the AMS, and concerning which he was interviewed by Robert Siegel on All Things Considered. His How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care) was published by W.W. Norton in the Fall of 2006 and continues to make waves in music circles worldwide. His latest book is The Music Treatises of Thomas Ravenscroft (Ashgate, 2014). A follow-up to Shakespeare’s Songbook, entitled Some Other Note: The Lost Songs of English Renaissance Comedy, was published by Oxford University Press in 2018.
Regarding performance, from 1978 to 2018 Ross Duffin oversaw the historical performance practice program at Case, including the Collegium Musicum, the Early Music Singers, and the Baroque Orchestra. Originally a Renaissance wind player, he has sung as tenor with the small chorus attached to Apollo's Fire - Cleveland Baroque Orchestra (Director: Jeannette Sorrell), from its inception in 1992 until 2017. He was also founding Artistic Director of Quire Cleveland, a professional early music choir established in Cleveland in 2008. He is also Artistic advisor to Exsultemus professional vocal ensemble (since 2003); Adviser to board of CityMusic Cleveland (since 2004); Elected representative of Apollo's Singers to the board of Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra (since 2005).
Ross Duffin is an instructor for numerous music workshops and festivals, and frequent lecturer on musical topics. He has taught at numerous summer programs in the USA and Canada, and three times has led symposia for collegium directors at Amherst and Madison Early Music Festivals. Among the general public of a certain age, he is perhaps best known as the long-time host and producer of Micrologus: Exploring the World of Early Music, which aired on National Public Radio from 1980 to 1998. Some stations have archived programs, which is why people still claim to hear his voice from time to time. Other multimedia projects include several videos of staged early music performances, produced for the Case Music Department, and over 250 video performances on Quire Cleveland’s YouTube Channel, with more than 850,000 views from 217 countries.
An engaging lecturer, Dr. Ross Duffin has spoken at Stanford, Eastman, Oxford, Princeton, Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Yale, Oberlin, Longy, Juilliard, Peabody, USC, the Purcell School in England, Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal Academy in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities in Scotland, and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland, among other places. He married Beverly Simmons on August 1, 1976 and currently lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Awards & Honors include: Noah Greenberg Award, American Musicological Society (1980), for work of benefit to scholars and performers; Folger Shakespeare Library fellowship (1999); Thomas Binkley Award, Early Music America magazine (2005), for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship; Claude V. Palisca Award, American Musicological Society (2005), for Shakespeare's Songbook. |
