Ross Ario has long been
considered a “Renaissance Man” due to his strong and diverse background
in the Arts and Sciences. His past experiences as an entertainer,
educator, and executive provide a wealth of life lessons to share. The
fact that Ross pursued these careers at the same time makes his life
story all the more interesting.
Ross received a Bachelor of Science degree from Loyola University
Chicago in Mathematics and Chemistry. Initially, he taught chemistry and
geometry at the high school level. He returned to school after a few
years to study music composition and theory at Roosevelt University
Chicago. He studied voice for six years with the principal bass of the
Chicago Symphony Chorus. As a professional musician, Ross performed on
guitar, bass, clarinet, saxophone and keyboards.
As a stand-up comedian,
Ross toured nationally
in the college market.
As founder and President of Ario Professional Artists, Ross directed a
full service entertainment agency working in the corporate, college and
festival markets. His agency was responsible for national and
international tour direction of established artists in the music,
comedy, lecture and novelty genres. Ross established a strong presence
in the college market through the National Association for Campus
Activities. There he conducted educational seminars at regional and
national conferences. In 1998 Ario Professional Artists was voted
“Agency of the Year” by the university members of NACA. Ross also
coordinated tour direction for blues, country and hip-hop artists in
Japan, Europe, Australia and South America. Ross took the company from
start-up phase to multi-million dollar annual sales revenue. He
represented numerous comedians with multiple appearances on television
shows, such as, David Letterman, The Tonight Show and Conan O’Brien.
Ross has published numerous articles in industry publications and has
served as a consultant for many talent agencies and management
companies.
For fourteen years, Ross was a faculty member at Columbia College
Chicago in the Arts, Entertainment, Media and Management Program. He
taught classes in “Talent Management” and “Self Management for
Independent Artists”. Ross offered internship opportunities for numerous
students who became employees or associates in professional positions
within the entertainment industry. Ross also served as a panel member
representing the school for numerous conferences within the
entertainment and educational communities.
For over six years Ross held sales and management positions with one of
the largest full service business development firms in North America. Those included Director of Inside
Sales Training and Development. This position required overseeing,
training and motivating inside sales personnel. Ross was a featured
speaker at many of the firms’ dinners and graduation ceremonies.
As a former singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian and university
instructor Ross feels most at ease when he is in front of an audience. |
