Horn Player Staff Sergeant Claire Ross of Grand Rapids, Mich., joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in August 2018.

Staff Sgt. Ross began her musical training on horn at age 12. After graduating in 2014 from East Kentwood High School in Kentwood, Mich., she attended Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing where she graduated with high honor and earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance in 2017. She studied with Corbin Wagner of MSU and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Erich Peterson of the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” Staff Sgt. Ross was assistant principal horn with the Midland Symphony Orchestra and third horn with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, both in Michigan. She also performed throughout Michigan with orchestras in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing, and throughout Florida with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra. In 2017 she was a horn fellow with the Music Academy of the West festival in Santa Barbara, Calif. She also taught privately.

Staff Sgt. Ross performs with the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and across the country during the band’s annual concert tour.