Nicholas Ross at the piano. (Photo by Nick Evans, Ohio Capital Journal.)
In May, Nicholas Ross walked into the federal courthouse in downtown Columbus, and alongside about 30 other people, raised his right hand and swore to “bear true faith and allegiance” to the U.S. Constitution. A few weeks later he got a letter in the mail. Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office was questioning his voter registration.
Ross was born in England to Irish parents, but he has been living in the United States for almost 30 years. He’s married, has kids and a home in Westerville; he’s a professor and chairs the Department of Music at Otterbein University. A shiny black piano dominates his living room, and there’s a surf green Fender Stratocaster on a stand with amps tucked into the corners of the room. His son is the guitar player, Ross said, and when it comes to piano, he plays one-handed now because of a nerve injury.
“And so I play left hand music only,” he explained. “But I’ve got favorites, I like to play Godowsky — Leopold Godowsky.”