Joao Guilherme Ripper
Joao Guilherme Ripper was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He studied Composition and
Conducting with Henrique Morelenbaum, Ronaldo Miranda e Roberto Duarte at the School of
Music of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where he received his Masters degree.
In 1994, he moved to the US to pursue his doctoral studies under Helmut Braunlich at the
Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. Ripper served as Assistant Teacher of
the Orchestration class at the CUA, and created a music program at the Adult Education
Program at the Connecticut Park Center, in Montgomery County, where he taught for three
years. With his Composition students, he founded the Composers Society of Montgomery
County. Additional studies in orchestral conducting were held in Argentina, under Maestro
Guillermo Scarabino. In 1997, he returned to Brazil and resumed his duties at the School
of Music of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where he served as Dean until 2003.
Ripper is also Music Director and conductor of the Pantanal Chamber Orchestra, in Mato
Grosso do Sul. Since 2004, he has been Director of the Sala Cecília Meireles Concert Hall
in Rio de Janeiro. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Music, an institution that
gathers outstanding Brazilian composers, conductors and musicologists.
Additional information can be obtained at the composer's MySpace site:
Joao Guilherme Ripper (MySpace)