Outstanding Alumni
We are very proud of our St. Cloud State music alumni. If you would like to be listed on our Outstanding Alumni webpage please email music@stcloudstate.edu
Joey Ripka
Award-Winning International Organist
St. Cloud State University alumnus Joseph Ripka, who earned his bachelor's in piano and organ in 2004, was awarded first prize at the Dublin (Ireland) International Organ Competition on Saturday, June 28. The prestigious competition, which began with 16 quarter-finalists selected from recorded auditions of applicants from around the world, involved a week-long series of competitive rounds that narrowed the field of 16 quarter-finalists to eight semi-finalists, then three finalists.
Ripka was announced as the first-place winner following a public performance by the finalists at Dublin's renowned Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. His award includes a prize of 5,000 Euros and a recital tour that will include King's College, Westminster Cathedral and St. Paul's Cathedral in London, as well as other venues in Ireland, the Netherlands and the U.K. Hear Ripka performing the final movement from from "Symphony No. 5" by LouisVierne during the second round in the Dublin competition.
Ripka is pursuing the artist's diploma in organ at the Oberlin Conservatory after completing his masters degree in piano and organ at the University of Kansas in 2006. Prior to his triumph in Dublin, he won first place in the San Marino (Calif.) Organ Competition in January and first place in the Fort Wayne (Ind.) National Organ competition in March.
At St. Cloud State Ripka studied organ with Professor Emeritus Charles Echols and piano with Professor Carmen Wilhite. He taught piano for a year at Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minn., and was church organist at St. John's Episcopal and Salem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, Minn. He is currently studying organ with Professor James David Christie at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio.
Bruce Pearson 
Regarded by many as the single most important publication for beginning band instruction, his "Standard of Excellence Comprehensive Band Method" is on music stands all over the world and is now published in English, Chinese, Spanish and Italian.
Following graduation from SCSU in 1964, Pearson spent more than 30 years in elementary, secondary and college classrooms. His work has earned him such prestigious awards as the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Directors Clinic Medal of Honor and the 2001 SCSU Distinguished Service to Music Award.
"We ... have the greatest job in the world! We have the privilege of providing inspired influence by helping young people to love music, love learning, love others and love themselves, all while making beautiful music."
St. Cloud State Outlook Magazine Article "Hitting a High Note" - Oct, 2005
Troy Rogers
Composer, Sound Artist, Instrument Designer
Troy Rogers is an emerging artist whose output includes music for soloists, chamber ensembles, orchestra, dance, theater, digital media and homemade music robots. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Music from St. Cloud State University in 2001, Troy moved to the University of Oregon where he received a Master of Music in Intermedia Music Technology in 2005.
While completing his master's degree, he spent time as a composer/researcher at Simon Fraser University's Sonic Research Studio exploring acoustic ecology and soundscape composition. More recently, at the University of Oregon, Department of Computer and Information Sciences' Cognitive Modeling and Eye Tracking Laboratory, he collaborated with researchers Anthony Hornof and Tim Halverson to create an audio/visual piece controlled by eye movements. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia, pursuing a degree in Composition and Computing Technologies at the Virginia Center for Computer Music.
In the Spring of 2006 he returned to St. Cloud State University as the keynote speaker for the Student Research Colloquium.
Troy's Keynote Address, Not either/or but both/and: compositional and performative gestures in the spaces between complementary domains will include discussion and demonstration of his work on PercusBot Study No. 1 (music for his computer-controlled robotic percussion ensemble), EyeMusic v1.0 (a work in which the performance is controlled in real-time by eye movements), and other compositions.
