Ralph Cupper

Ralph Cupper (born 9 August 1954) is an organist, director and composer who was born and raised in Norwich, within the county of Norfolk, England.

History Ralph Cupper began to play the piano with Edna Watering when he was 6 years old. Later he learnt the organ with David Storey and Peter Notley and the clarinet with Charles Unwin. While he was at the Hewett School he became a member of the school choir. It was while he was at school that Cupper became influenced by the music environment which Colin Clouting and the distinguished concert pianist Eileen Last had responsibility for. It was during this period that Cupper had piano tuition with Eileen Last.

After he concluded his studies at the Hewett School in Norwich, Cupper studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. While he was there he studied the organ with Douglas Hawkridge; choir/orchestra direction with Dr Douglas Hopkins; harmony, counterpoint and fugue with Drs. Arthur Pritchard and Arthur Wills. After he finished in 1976 he did an extended course of Organ studies with Susi Jeans and Nicolas Kynaston with the help of a stipend from Alderman Norman's Foundation. In 1979 Cupper was awarded a stipend from the Arts Council of Great Britain to study the organ with the well-known Dutch organist Bernard Bartelinck, who was at that time Organist at the Bavo Cathedral in Haarlem in the Netherlands.

He is also known in Nordfjordeid for helping the local hospital and other community events by arranging concerts to support these causes.

Every year Ralph Cupper arranges a local musical festival in Nordfjordeid, called ‘Aftenmusikk’. In this capacity he has had the opportunity to invite musicians, choirs and orchestras to Nordfjordeid not only from Scandinavia but also from Europe. ‘Aftenmusikk’ takes place each week in February, and encourages tourists to visit the municipality of Eid. This music festival, which has existed for over five years, is now the cultural high point of the churches year in this district.