In this new capacity, Dr. Ripper will write original works especially for the Concert Artists series performed at the recently restored Gene and Shelly Enlow Recital Hall on Kean University's East Campus. His compositions will include a string quintet and a piano quintet, among other works making their debuts in upcoming seasons. The Concert Artist Series is a fully professional chamber music program performed by internationally renowned musicians who also serve as faculty at Kean University. The Series offers 12-15 productions a year including a jazz program on the Main and East campuses.
Dr. Ripper was born in Rio de Janeiro and has worked there since 2004 as Director of Sala Cecília Meireles, a leading concert hall. He is former Dean of the School of Music of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), where he served previously as a faculty member in composition and Director of Graduate Programs. The UFRJ School of Music has approximately 700 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs and approximately 80 faculty and staff members.
Dr. Ripper has guest-conducted many of Brazil's noted orchestras. His compositions, including operas, orchestral and chamber works, songs and piano pieces, have been performed in concert halls throughout Brazil and abroad. Dr. Ripper has had work commissioned and performed by the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and he was the featured Composer-in-Residence of the 39th International Music Festival of Campos do Jordão. The Orquestra Petrobras Sinfônica commissioned an opera from him that was premiered in November 2010.
João Guilherme Ripper is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Music, an institution that honors outstanding Brazilian composers, conductors and musicologists. His appointment as Kean University concert artist composer-in-residence follows those of Swiss-American Frank Ezra Levy, 2008-2009; fellow Brazilian Liduino Pitombeira, 2009-2010; and Mexican-American and Juilliard Faculty member Samuel Zyman, 2010-2011. Dr. Zyman's Quintet for Piano and Strings, written for the concert artist series, will receive its world premiere in Enlow Hall at the Ars Vitalis concert on April 28, 2011 at 8:00 P.M. Also on that program will be Dr. Zyman's Guitar Quintet.
Dr. Ripper is expected to attend performances of his works, providing the opportunity for audience, artists and performers to interact with the composer during the 2011-2012 Concert Artist Series.
Founded in 1855, Kean University has become one of the largest metropolitan institutions of higher education in the region, boasting a richly diverse student, faculty and staff population. Kean continues to play a key role in the training of teachers and is a hub of educational, technological and cultural enrichment, offering more than 50 undergraduate degrees and more than 45 options leading to a master's degree, doctorate, professional diploma and/or state certification(s). Five undergraduate colleges and the Nathan Weiss Graduate College now serve more than 15,000 students.
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