Ross Magoulas: Consummate Performer, Teacher, Friend
by Chris Worthy
Ross Magoulas ’56, Associate Professor Emeritus of Voice and Opera, was born in 1930 in Charleston, SC, in an apartment above the grocery store owned by his mother. It was the start of his continuing story, one that took him to the stage and the classroom and then to a retirement that never quite seems to stick. It is fitting for a man who is always ready to learn and who goes through life with the understanding that strangers are just friends he hasn’t met yet.
Magoulas attended the Converse College School of Music, now known as the Petrie School of Music (PSOM), from 1952 through his graduation in 1956 at a time when Converse was still a women’s college.
“We were not allowed at first to take academic courses at Converse,” he said. “I had to get a few courses over at Wofford College to get credit for it at Converse. Fortunately, I had a 1940 Dodge Coupe, and I was able to go back and forth, so that worked out fine.”
Indeed. Magoulas graduated with a degree in Music Voice Performance and began teaching at Berry College before earning his master’s degree at Florida State University. He returned to Berry College and taught for a total of 26 years before returning to Converse as a faculty member for a decade.
“I supposedly retired in 1992,” he said. Well, not exactly. Magoulas returned to his hometown and was promptly recruited to teach for nine years at College of Charleston before he retired again.
From the store to the classroom
Music has been the foundation of Magoulas’ work and the source of his joy for life.
“In the days of yore on Saturdays in Charleston, we used to get the Metropolitan Opera performances live, and I would just sit there and just be so amazed that the human voice could do what those people were doing,” he said. “It was incredible. Of course, when I was listening, I tried to sing.”
When one of his teachers offered a music appreciation class after school, Magoulas joined and was soon asked to sing in a church children’s choir. His mother, who had immigrated to the United States from Greece, preferred that he stay with their Greek Orthodox church. So even though that opportunity did not work out, it did set a course for Magoulas.
“She at least recognized that I could carry a tune, which made me feel good,” he said. “But I did not sing with that group. I stayed home, and little by little, I took voice lessons in Charleston. I took piano lessons in Charleston. I was fairly good – not great, but good.”
With a plan to pursue a career in theater, Magoulas said his life changed course over a banana split. Sharing a booth at a drug store in Charleston with his lifelong friends Mary Drake Perry ’54 and Frances Trapales ‘55 – he had the banana split while they had hot fudge sundaes, Magoulas said – the friends talked about the future. He said they asked him directly: “What are you going to do with the rest of your life?” “I said, ‘Well, I don’t have any money, but if I can, I was going to go to the Goodman Memorial Theatre in Chicago. It’s a drama theater, and I was going to try to make it in the theater world,’” he recalled.
The friends told Magoulas he would have to read music well in order to take that route. They convinced him that college should be his next step. Before he committed, Magoulas said he confirmed that he could avoid math classes – the thing he dreaded most – and still earn his degree.
“And that’s how I came to Converse College, and that’s the absolute truth,” he said. “I loved it. I did really well grade-wise. I was in the opera productions, and I just had a fantastic time. It was wonderful!”
“I loved it. I did really well grade-wise. I was in the opera productions, and I just had a fantastic time. It was wonderful!”
A legacy still in the making
Magoulas has remained connected to friends, colleagues and students from Converse. He said he and Jane Rolandi Gray and Perry and Phyllis Daniels had an easy friendship that was collaborative rather than competitive. They traveled together and “had a fantastic time.” The group is the namesake of the Rolandi-Daniels-Magoulas Music Scholarship. “I treasure those years very much, and I treasure my 10 years of teaching at Converse,” he said.
The Rolandi-Daniels-Magoulas Music Scholarship recipient is voted on by the PSOM faculty and is awarded to an exceptional vocal student each year. The fund was created by alumni Catherine Froneberger Siarris ’84, Kimilee Bryant ’88, and Mildred Roche ’79, who sought to honor their teachers and held a benefit recital to raise funds for its establishment. Every year, Pi Kappa Lambda members are invited to donate to this fund.
“I treasure those years very much, and I treasure my 10 years of teaching at Converse.”
Just as teachers and friends invested in his growth as an artist and educator, Magoulas paid it forward to his students.
“We gave them opportunities,” he said. “We did operas in the spring as well as in the fall. We tried to spread the roles out so that most of the kids could have a chance to perform, and that really told them either this is for me, or I don’t think so.” Magoulas said quite a few of his students also attended the summer program at Brevard Music Center where he taught for 26 years.
Continued connections and support
Ever a champion for students, Magoulas continues to support Converse University through efforts like Rock the Tower, the annual day of giving. He said it is part of his commitment to see students thrive in the experiences he enjoyed.
“When I got to Converse, the faculty was so great, and my eyes and ears were open to so much music that I had never heard before – I never had really listened to a string quartet or trio – and I said, ‘My gosh, I’m so lucky to be here.’ And that’s why (I support it) and I loved all my four years at Converse. I loved every year of it,” he said.
After decades in the classroom that spawned the careers of numerous performers and music educators and receiving the Converse College Career Achievement in Music Award in 2006, the year of his 50th reunion, Magoulas said one reward that continues is the contact with his former students. Some still visit him and he delights in their friendship.
His current chapter
In his current version of retirement, Magoulas remains an avid baker and yes, he still performs. Most recently, he took part in a commercial and he also appeared in an episode of the ABC series “What Would You Do?” as a driver experiencing age discrimination (his segment starts at 10:10). Age, on the screen and in life, is just a number for Magoulas – consummate performer, teacher, friend. “It’s a lot of fun, and I meet people and I learn,” he said.