Daniel Rieppel – SMAHC Prairie Star for 2007

We are proud to present Dr. Daniel Rieppel as the SMAHC Prairie Star for 2007.  Dr. Rieppel is a virtuoso performer on the piano and the conductor of the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra.  He has amazed many with his performances in Southwest Minnesota as well as throughout the state of Minnesota, in other states, and across many cities in Europe. 

      Dr. Rieppel is a western Minnesota native having grown up on a farm near Appleton Minnesota.  His early days were busy with farm chores, helping on the family farm with the sugar beet crops and later with the cattle operation.  He could lasso with the best of them.  But his first love quickly became the piano.  He fell in love with the piano at the early age of four and began his formal piano lessons in first grade.  He studied with Gelene Johnson who was also part of a farm family.  The Johnson family raised sheep and potatoes but she had the time and commitment to teach 50 students.  Dr. Rieppel states, “Gelene was like a second mother to me - I owe her everything, including my drive for excellence.  I practiced hard during those days. I would awake early in the morning and practice for 2 or 3 hours before school each day.  Then I practiced for an hour after school and another hour or two after supper!”  Through his intense practice and with the tutuledge of Gelene Johnson, he developed his skills to the point that he was accepted to the renowned Cleveland Institute of Music as a piano performance major. 

      He studied with Jack Radunsky, a well known piano teacher on the East coast and the Midwest at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Jack inspired his students to work beyond their talent limit.  For the first two years, Jack helped Rieppel break down his piano skills and redevelop his technique. While at CIM, Dr. Rieppel won the William Kurzban Prize in Piano presented to an undergraduate or graduate student for outstanding progress as determined by the piano faculty.  This was one of the steps of what has turned out to be the beginning of a brilliant career as a performer.

      From the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dr. Rieppel went on to receive his Master’s degree in performance from Indiana University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree also in performance from the University of Minnesota.  Dr. Rieppel has studied, performed and done research in many prominent places throughout his career, including Munich, Germany as a DAAD scholar, the Minnesota Orchestra, members of  the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.  He has lectured and performed in New York City, Oxford University in England, and in Vienna, Austria as well as many other locations.  He states that one of his favorite places to perform was in Leeds, England at the Leeds International Schubert Symposium, where he performed works of Schubert and Grillparzer.

Dr. Rieppel fell in love with the music of Viennese musician, Franz Schubert, and has devoted much of his career researching and studying the works of this genius composer.  He has traveled to Austria every year for the last 10 years to do research and he has published articles on Schubert in several journals.  He has discovered he has relatives in Austria and they have helped support him in his research.  Dr. Rieppel states that no other renowned 19th century composer was actually born in Vienna.  Schubert’s music is authentically Viennese, although it is not necessarily virtuosic music.  But Schubert made up for it in melodic and poetic content.     

      So what brings this homegrown musician back to Minnesota?  Dr. Rieppel states that he is passionate about the state of Minnesota.  And that was his motivation to move back to Minneapolis in 1990.  He also loves teaching at Southwest Minnesota State University.  He wanted to move to a community that was vibrant and growing and where he could safely raise his family.  And in 1998, he chose Marshall, Minnesota and SMSU where he is an Associate Professor of Music.  His other teaching duties include music theory, music history, and he serves as musical director of The Southwest Minnesota Orchestra.

      Dr. Rieppel’s other favorite composers are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, as well as Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler.  He also loves American composers, particularly Charles Ives, Christopher Kaufman, Elliot Carter and Aaron Copland.  As far as his other music preferences, he likes all types of jazz, polka bands, and funk (believe it or not).  His primary hobby is reading.  He loves to read - mystery novels, literary criticism, poetry, cereal boxes – anything!  He also enjoys cooking and walking.  But Dr. Rieppel continues to practice hard – 4 hours a day and more when he is preparing for a concert.

      Dan has 2 children, Ingrid who is a sophomore at St. Cloud State University, and Erich who is a sophomore in high school.  His wife Julieta Alvarado is an award winning harpsichordist and teaches piano at SMSU.  She holds both bachelor and master degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has done doctoral studies in Early Music performance at Indiana University.

      Dr. Rieppel enjoys working at SMSU.  He states that SMSU has given him a unique opportunity and a great work experience.  Dr. Rieppel states, “I am grateful and honored to have been given this award.  I thank SMAHC from the bottom of my heart for the great things they have done and continue to do in our community.  I am especially grateful for those who are working with me now  to make The Southwest Minnesota Orchestra a great organization, such as our board members Jeanette Bosveld, Beth Steuck, and Bob Gunther. 

      One of the highlights of Daniel’s time here at SMSU has been  working with Dr. Robert Whitcomb, retired Professor Emeritus of Music at SMSU.  “Working on Bob’s new “Piano Concerto” with him was an amazing experience; to have such a powerful piece dedicated to me and having the opportunity to help fashion this piece was a great honor!,” said Dr. Rieppel.  The premiere of the Piano Concerto was the grand finale to a semester long tribute to Dr. Whitcomb in honor of his 85th birthday.  Many of his compositions were heard in the spring of 2007, including songs, chamber music and solo piano works.   “Bob is an example of what truly great things can come from other regions of Minnesota.  He is an example I have tried to emulate.”

      Congratulations Dr. Rieppel on receiving the SMAHC Prairie Star Award.