Biography

Ripper frequently collaborates with orchestras, theaters, and festivals, writing new compositions, acting as a resident composer, and conducting his own works. He is the author of the librettos for his operas, a genre that holds central importance in his catalog, with ten titles performed in theaters in Brazil and abroad. Recent productions of his operas include:

• Piedade – Vivo Rio (2012), Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (2017 & 2018), Theatro Municipal de São Paulo (2018), Sala Cecília Meireles (2018), Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (2023), Amazonas Opera Festival (2023);
• Onheama – Teatro Amazonas (2014 & 2015) and the Terras Sem Sombra Festival, Portugal (2016);
• Anjo Negro (The Dark Angel) – Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage (2012) and Teatro Guaíra (2023);
• O Diletante – Salão Leopoldo Miguez (2014) and Teatro Carlos Gomes in Vitória-ES (2016) *
• Kawah Ijen – Teatro Amazonas (2018)
• Cartas Portuguesas – Sala São Paulo (2020), Fundação Gulbenkian.
• Lisbon (2020), Sala Minas (2021), and Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (2022);
• Domitila – version with chamber ensemble – Theatro Municipal de São Paulo (2022), Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (2022), Teatro de la Zarzuela – Fundación Juan March in Madrid (2024);
• Domitila – version with symphonic orchestra – Centro Cultural Belém in Lisbon (2022);
• Candinho – The Krannert Center of the University of Illinois (2023) and Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (2024); *Devoção*, at the Palácio das Artes in Belo Horizonte (2024);
• La vorágine – Teatro Colón in Bogotá (2024).

João Guilherme Ripper received the São Paulo Association of Art Critics Award in 2000 for Domitila and in 2017 for his body of work. In 2020, he received the Innovation Award from Revista Concerto for creating and coordinating the “Gestores em Movimento” (Managers On The Move) Program, which trains musicians from all over Brazil for the management of orchestras, theaters, and concert halls.