Rick Johannes Peperkamp was born on September 8th, 1989 in Maastricht (Netherlands). He has been playing the trombone since he was eight and studied this instrument at the Folkwang University in Essen. During his studies he began to compose for brass 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 studied at the Bern University of the Arts with Florian Ziemen (Generalmusikdirektor Theater für Niedersachsen)
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, Musikkorps of the Bundeswehr Siegburg-Bonn, and the military band of Upper Austria as a guest.
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, where he conducted Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
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 Munich and leads the Amper Philharmonic, the (SBO) Symphonic Wind Orchestra Germering, Musikverein St. Andreas Eching, Munich North Symphony Orchestra and works as a low brass teacher at the Städtische Musikschule Landshut, Michaeli Gymnasium & Musikforum Blutenburg.
He is assistant to the conductor Anton Zapf.
With the 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.
