Julieta Alvarado-Rieppel

Dr. Julieta Margarita Alvarado-Rieppel passed away on Tuesday afternoon, May 2, 2017 at 1:45 PM at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Julieta was a loving wife, mother and new grandmother, a role she relished and was just growing into with her beautiful new grandchildren. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Daniel Rieppel and their children, Ingrid Margrit Pederson and her husband Andrew and Erich Emmanuel Matthias Rieppel, as well as her parents Manuel Antonio Alvarado and Margarita Miranda de Alvarado, and siblings Manuel Antonio Alvarado, III and Dr. Beatriz Cecilia Alvarado. Her passing is also mourned by the Rieppel family—Sheldon, Janice, Tracy, Stephen, Kerry, Michael and their children. Dr. Alvarado was born on January 11, 1959, in Panama City, Republic of Panama and baptized into the Catholic faith at “Iglesia de Cristo Rey.” Julieta attended Colegio Internacional de María Inmaculada for 13 years. Her love of classical music brought her to the famed Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio where she continued her piano studies with the legendary Vitya Vronsky-Babin and Doris Ornstein on harpsichord. Afterwards she matriculated to Indiana University, Bloomington under the guidance of Thomas Binkley and Elizabeth Wright in the Early Music Institute. Upon returning from Munich, Germany, she settled in the Twin Cities and gave her recital debut at St. Louis, King of France Catholic Church in 1991. An award-winning harpsichordist, Julieta Alvarado performed widely in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. As a recipient of several international, national, and state awards, she received grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions and the Artist Exploration Fund in New York City, for research and performance. She often returned to her native country of Panama to visit family/friends and contributed to the Panamanian music community by performing concerts and giving lectures at the University of Panama. Dr. Alvarado’s degrees include a Ph.D. in Leadership for Higher Education with high distinction from Capella University, Minneapolis. She has taught as Assistant Professor of Music at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and at Lake Superior College, Duluth, Saint Paul College and as Music Professor at Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, where she first joined the music faculty in 1998. Twice named Fulbright Scholar to Latin America: Bolivia (2001-2003) and Panama (2009-2010), Julieta Alvarado was appointed to the Fulbright National Peer Review Committee in Washington, D.C. in 2011 and served as 2013-2014 President of the Fulbright Association, Minnesota Chapter. Mass of Christian Burial 11AM Monday, May 8 at the Cathedral of St. Paul, Selby at Summit, St. Paul. Visitation 1 hour prior to Mass. Memorials preferred.