Rick Johannes Peperkamp was Born in the City of Maastricht, Netherlands. With the age of 8 he started playing the trombone and soon became member with several top windbands in the Province of Limburg. After High-School he went to Germany and studied Trombone at the Folkwang University in Essen. During his Studies he also began to Compose for Ensembles and attended private conducting lessons.
After Essen he moved to Switzerland, where he received lessons from Daniel Schweizer, (Founder and chief conductor of the Zurich Symphonic Orchestra) and also studied at the Bern University of the Arts with Florian Ziemen (Generalmusikdirektor Theater für Niedersachsen) After Switzerland back to Germany he studied with Anton Zapf in Munich.
As a trombone player, he played with the Salzburg Philharmonic, the Russian Chamber Philharmonic and the Bavarian State Theater. He shared the stage with international soloists such as Edita Grubereva, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Nikolaj Tokarev, Mischa Maisky, Eva Lind, Christian Lanza, Sergei Nakariakov, Ole-Edvard Antonsen, Otto Sauter, Nils Landgren, Radek Barborak, Frank Lloyd, Janoska Ensemble, and Chris Thompson.
As a composer he has written various pieces for chamber music, brass ensemble & Concert Band including a Trombone Concerto which was premiered by The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra/Orkest van het Oosten. His works Megalodon, The Knight of Koppigen, Papillon, Cleopatra, Typhon vs. Zeus premiered in Germany with great success.
As a conductor, he gained early experience with amature orchestras in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany, but he also conducted professional orchestras such as the Moravian Philharmonic Olmütz Czech Republic, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Berlin Sinfonietta, Bern Chamber Orchestra, The London Classical Soloists, the Medicine Orchestra Bern, and the Military band of Upper Austria.
He took part in conducting master classes with Maestros Lior Shambadal, Alim Shakh, Henrie Adams, Maurice Hamers, as well as the Opera-in-Starnberg with Prof. Georg Friedrich Sandmann.
Rick was chief conductor of the Passau University Orchestra for 3 years.
During his time in Passau, he premiered a number of musical lost treasures by composers from the late Romantic era. He also worked with soloists such as Aliya Vodovozova and German Hornsound. A flute concerto was dedicated to him in 2020 by the South African composer Heinrich Lategan.
Together with Pastor Dr. Michael Gnan, he initiated the project “Spiritual Miniatures” from the diocese in the summer of 2020 and has been organizing the musical accompaniment for it since then.
Today he lives in Germering and leads the Amper Philharmonic, the (SBO) Symphonic Wind Orchestra Germering, and works as a low brass teacher at the Städtische Musikschule Landshut & Musikforum Blutenburg. He is the assistant of Anton Zapf.
With SBO Germering, Rick has received high praise for his performances with film music arrangements of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the Star Wars Symphony, and the collaboration with trumpet legend Allen Vizzutti. In 2020 composer Torstein-Aagaard Nilsen dedicated his piece Circius to Rick.
In 2021 he became the first conductor in the history of IMKA (International Internet Music Competition) to win the 1. prize in Sarajevo, and was a finalist at the Lanyi Conducting Competition in Subotica, Serbia.
In 2022 he won a 2nd Prize at the Music and Stars Awards in Professional Conducting, the 1st Prize at the 21st Century Prominent Musicians Award and became best performer to represent Germany. He was also selected as a finalist for the European Classical Music Awards Grand Prix in and won the Conductor of the Year Award. He is the 2022 Manchester International Music Competition 2nd edition Grand Prize winner and also received a special prize the Excellent Technique Award. Rick also won 1st Prizes and received outstanding technique awards at the 1st edition Schubert Music Competition and Beethoven Competition. in 2023 he won the 1st prize at the Caneres Music Competition Vienna.
How it started…
Compositions list in order with Opus number:
Op. 01 Adventure for 5 Trombones
Op. 02 Fanfare – Duet for French Horn & Trombone
Op. 03 Concerto for Trombone & String Orchestra
Op. 04 Action – Duet for French Horn & Trombone
Op. 05 Trombone Quartet Nr.1
Op. 06 Sonatina for French Horn & Piano
Op. 07 Trombone Octet Nr.1 – Journey of a Thousand Miles
Op. 08 Trombone Octet Nr.2 – The Lost Cathedral
Op. 09 The Quest for Brass Ensemble
Op. 10 Through the Core – Trombone Sextet
Op. 11 Reverie for Violin/Oboe & Piano
Op. 12 Little Rhapsody for Violin/Oboe & Piano
Op. 13 Firedance for solo French Horn
Op. 14 Flight 4.1 for Trombone Quartet & Marimba
Op. 15 Hit it! for solo Bass Trombone or Tuba
Op. 16 Hammer it! (the big brother of Hit it!) for solo Contrabass Trombone or Tuba
Op. 17 El Torero for Brassband
Op. 18 Mechanism – Duet for 2 Bass Trombones
Op. 19 Get a move on! for Bass Trombone & Piano
Op. 20 The Knight of Koppigen for Concert Band
Op. 21 Megalodon (the Super Shark) for Concert Band
Op. 22 Mr. Gentleman Blues for Concert Band
Op. 23 The Funny Cossack (the last vodka was very bad…) for Concert Band
Op. 24 Cittadella – March for Concert Band
Op. 25 Cleopatra – Symphonic Poem for Concert Band
Op. 26 Fanfare für das Haus for Brass Ensemble
Op. 27 Papillon – Plaisier de L’amour – for Concert Band
Op. 28 Christ is with us – for Brass Trio: Trumpet, French Horn & Trombone
Op. 29 Fanfare for a City – for Brass Ensemble
Op. 30 Smile – Chorale for Concert Band
Op. 31 Ehingas – Overture in C for Concert Band
Op. 31a Ehingas (a Hymn for Eching) for Small Band
Op. 32 Typhon vs. Zeus – Symphonic Poem for Concert Band
Op. 33 The Commander – March for Concert Band
Op. 34 Sonata for Trombone & Piano