Ralph Hepola
Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Ralph Hepola studied piano before starting on the tuba at age twelve. At seventeen, he was chosen to play in the Manitoba All-Province Band in Brandon, Manitoba before the British Royal Family during their visit to Canada. While still a teenager, Ralph won a position with The United States Army Band of Washington, D.C. At age twenty, he won a full scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music in the Young Artist Competition of the Minnesota Orchestra/WAMSO.

Ralph earned his music degree at Northwestern University where he studied with renowned musician and teacher Arnold Jacobs. Three books have been published covering Mr. Jacobs’ celebrated career, which included forty-four years as Principal Tubaist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. At Northwestern University, Ralph played and soloed with Jazz Ensemble I, which twice won Best Big Band at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival.

Subsequently, Ralph won an international audition for the symphony orchestra in Basel, which is Switzerland’s second-largest city. During five years in Europe, he performed as a soloist on Swiss Radio and played in the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria. He then freelanced for two years in New York City with various jazz and classical ensembles.

Ralph Hepola performs professionally on four different tubas and bass trombone. He is Principal Tubaist with Minnesota Opera at the Ordway-Minnesota’s Premiere Performing Arts Center. Ralph’s interest in opera has led to performances of sixty-one different operas in seventy-eight opera productions in the United States and Europe. He is heard on thirty-three different professional recordings including major labels, as well as several video productions.

In 2004, Ralph completed a residency at the Wurlitzer Foundation (awarded internationally) in the esteemed arts community of Taos, New Mexico.

Ralph has also performed at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina which is the world’s most-comprehensive arts festival; the Children’s Theatre in Minneapolis which is North America’s largest theatre for young people & their families; and the Guthrie Theater, the nation’s largest regional theater.

Ralph Hepola, Minneapolis & Saint Paul, Minnesota
e-mail: info@ralphhepola.com • telephone: (651) 488-1144