Marcel Dupré (1886-1971) Trois Préludes et Fugues, Opus 7 1. B major 2. F minor 3. G minor
Joseph Ripka is organist and choirmaster at Calvary Church in Stonington, Connecticut, and the artistic director of Calvary Music School. At Calvary, he directs an active music program, which includes adult and children’s choirs and a music school with over 100 students and a faculty of 14. He received the prestigious Artist Diploma in organ from the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with James David Christie and holds Master of Music degrees in piano and organ performance from the University of Kansas, and completed a second master's degree at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied with Martin Jean.
Joseph was previously organ scholar at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fairfield, Connecticut, organist/choirmaster at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, and organist/choir director at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Parma, Ohio. During the 2006-2007 academic year, Joseph served on the piano faculty at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Joseph served as a jurist for the 2010 L. Cameron Johnson Memorial Competition for high school organ students and the North American round of the 2009 Tariverdiev International Organ Competition.
Joseph has won several prizes nationally and internationally, including first prize in the 2008 Dublin International Organ Competition and the 2008 Fort Wayne National Organ Competition, and was a finalist in the Prague, Nijmegen, and Erfurt competitions. He is also an active international recitalist, having been engaged for performances at St. Paul’s London, Bavo Kerk Haarlem, Oude Kerk Amsterdam, Kings College Cambridge, St George Windsor, Magdalene College Oxford, and St Patrick’s Dublin among others. Joseph has performed with the New World Symphony, the Boston Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Benjamin Zander, and Alan Gilbert. www.josephripka.com