Ross Karre began playing percussion in elementary school in his hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan. Early on, he dedicated himself to experimental performing arts. Ross graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he worked with Amy Barber. He received his bachelors degree in percussion performance from the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied under Michael Rosen. During these years, Ross had the opportunity to work with such important figures in contemporary music as Pierre Boulez, Harrison Birtwistle, Meredith Monk, the Ensemble Intercontemprain, David Robertson, and the Percussion Group Cincinnati.

Ross has performed in ensembles and as a soloist at major venues and festivals throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lucerne's Kozertsaal, Merkin Hall, Cleveland's Severance Hall, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Lucerne Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Klangspuren Festival in Austria, the Oberlin Percussion Institute, the Reel-Loud Film Festival, the Music and the Moving Image Conference, the Cleveland Museum of Art's AKI Festival, the Oberlin Artist Recital Series, and the Carnegie Professional Training Workshops. He has performed with the SO percussion group and the La Jolla Symphony. He is a founding member of the ongoing multimedia collaboration called the Synchronism Project and of the twelve-member Lucerne Festival Percussion Group. He is the recipient of a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, which allows him to study and perform with Steven Schick and the red fish blue fish percussion group in San Diego, California.