Dr. Adam Rappel takes great pride in being a versatile percussionist. He has performed in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, and Sweden. He has also performed with the YOA Orchestra of the Americas in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. In addition, he performed in the first International Percussion Ensemble festival in Costa Rica with the University of Minnesota Percussion Ensemble. As an orchestral percussionist, he performs with the Minnesota Orchestra, and is the principal percussionist in the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Mankato Symphony Orchestra, and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.
As a solo and chamber performer, Adam has shared stages with Valerie Dee Naranjo ("Saturday Night Live" percussionist), the late Kakraba Lobi, The Paris Conservatory Saxophone Ensemble, Eugene Rousseau, and Bobby McFerrin, among others. He has performed and collaborated with international percussion luminaries such as Bob Becker, Eric Sammut, Pedro Carneiro, Ivana Bilic, Jeff Queen, John Wooton, and Casey Cangelosi, among others.
In 2011, Adam co-founded Struck percussion ensemble which is committed to performing new, genre-bridging music that exposes their audiences to fresh, interesting works for percussion. Struck has since collaborated and performed with the Minnesota Percussion Association, Rosemount High School, Winona High School, Metropolitan Library Service Agency's Live at the Library series, Ballet Folklorico Mexico Azteca, MacPhail Center for Music, and the Walker Art Center. Since their formation, Struck has commissioned many composers to produce new music specifically for them and their audiences.
Adam is recognized for being a versatile percussionist as a performer and a teacher. One of his most important endeavors to the percussion field was being the administrative "right hand" for Professor Fernando Meza (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities) for the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference - an event that brought together over 50 of the world's leading marimba artists in collaboration with the most important artistic organizations in the Twin Cities. This event reached over 10,000 people through performances in the most important venues in the area including Orchestra Hall, Ordway Theater, Ted Mann Concert Hall, the Walker Arts Center, and the St. Paul Cathedral.
Adam has held teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Conservatory, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, MacPhail Center for Music, and Inver Hills Community College. He serves as Lecturer of Percussion at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he teaches undergraduate and graduate lessons, directs the percussion ensemble, and instructs the percussion techniques and pedagogy courses. Adam received his bachelor's degree in percussion performance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point while studying with Robert Rosen, and his master's degree from the University of Minnesota, studying with Peter Kogan, Phil Hey, Steve Yeager, and Fernando Meza. He is the first percussionist to ever receive the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
He is proudly endorsed by Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, and is a Yamaha Concert Percussion Artist.
