Robert J. Ambrose is Director of Wind Studies and Ensembles and Associate Director of the School of Music at Georgia State University. His primary responsibilities are conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Wind Orchestra and University Chamber Winds, coordinating the Master of Music in Wind Band Conducting degree program, and overseeing all aspects of the undergraduate music program. Prior to this appointment he held conducting positions at the Chicago College of Performing Arts and Boston College. He also served for five years as Director of Instrumental Music in the public schools of Norwood and Monson, Massachusetts.

Dr. Ambrose received the Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science with a concentration in music from Boston College, the Master of Music degree in music education from Boston University and the Doctor of Music degree in conducting at Northwestern University. His principal conducting teachers have been Mallory Thompson, Frank Battisti and Eric Rombach-Kendall. In addition, he has attended classes with Seiji Ozawa, Robert Spano and Andre Previn at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Ensembles under the direction of Dr. Ambrose have performed at Carnegie Hall, Spivey Hall, the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division Conference, the Georgia and Massachusetts Music Educators Conferences, Boettcher Hall in Denver and at the Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston. In addition, a recent performance of Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms under his direction has been given repeated airings on Georgia Public Radio. Dr. Ambrose's interpretations have earned the enthusiastic praise of many leading composers including Pulitzer Prize winners Leslie Bassett, Michael Colgrass, and John Harbison as well as Tristan Murail, Andrew Rindfleisch, John Mackey, and Jonathan Newman.

An ardent supporter of contemporary and avant-garde music, Dr. Ambrose is co-founder, conductor and guitarist of the Atlanta-based contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency. Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as "one of the brightest ensembles on the [Atlanta] scene," and by the Atlanta Journal Constitution as "a suddenly indispensable part of the Atlanta music scene," this ensemble has received widespread critical acclaim for their musical virtuosity and innovative programming.

In 2003, Dr. Ambrose co-founded the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble (maywe.org), a youth wind band comprised of 52 of the most talented high school musicians from the greater Atlanta area. This ensemble performed an acclaimed program at Carnegie Hall in May of 2005 and is now a resident ensemble of Georgia State University. Dr. Ambrose is also founder and music director of the Georgia Chamber Winds, a professional woodwind dectet.

Dr. Ambrose is in great demand as a guest conductor and clinician and he has worked with countless college and high school bands and orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. He recently traveled to Australia where he served as artist-in-residence and clinician for five public schools in the Brisbane area. He currently serves as a staff adjudicator for the Dixie Classic, Gateway, All-American, Southern Star, Music Maestro and Performing Arts Consultants Music Festivals.

A guitarist by trade Dr. Ambrose has performed in dozens of jazz ensembles, combos, rock bands and pit orchestras in Boston and Chicago. His rock band "Hoochie Suit," formed with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, received rave reviews throughout the Chicago area and has performed for such distinguished guests as Yo-Yo Ma, Larry Combs and Daniel Barenboim.

For three years Dr. Ambrose served as co-editor of the internationally-circulated Music Educators National Conference Measurement and Evaluation newsletter. Recent publications include articles in the two volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance In Band and The Georgia Music News. Dr. Ambrose currently serves as the Georgia state chair for the College Band Directors National Association. He is a member of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles, the National Association of Music Educators and the Georgia Music Educators Association and has served on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Instrumental Conductors Association. In addition, he has been awarded the National Band Association Citation of Excellence.