Louise Dieterle Nippert
Mrs. Nippert and Matinée Musicale Artistic Director Nancy Walker at Mrs. Nippert’s yearly luncheon for our Matinée Musicale membership at her lovely home at Greenacres.
Louise Nippert’s love of music began early in her life. She studied voice with CCM faculty member Thomas James Kelly and later endowed the dean’s chair at the school in his memory. She became an accomplished vocalist and sang the National Anthem at a Reds Baseball Game!
One of her greatest pleasures and a high point of her life was singing the soprano solo at the end of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Thor Johnson in 1957.
Her continued presence and support of music is seen in her much-appreciated donations to many organizations throughout the Cincinnati area, including Matinée Musicale Cincinnati. She and her husband Louis Nippert purchased Greenacres Farm in 1949. To preserve the land for the education and enjoyment of future generations, small classes began to be offered, especially for children, to study nature, music, and art in a natural and aesthetic environment. The Nipperts established the L & L Nippert Charitable Foundation in 1981, the Greenacres Foundation in 1988, and later, the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the
Greenacres Foundation to reflect their interests in the cultural arts, education, sustainable agriculture, the environment, and health.
The year 1995 saw the opening of the Dieterle Vocal Arts Center of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, consisting of the voice, opera, choral, and collaborative piano departments, and the Nippert Rehearsal Studio.
Mrs. Nippert singing the National Anthem at a Reds Baseball Game.
Mrs. Nippert was a subscriber to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) for more than 70 years and also regularly attended the Pops, Ballet, May Festival, and Opera. In one of many celebrations during her centennial birthday month, the entire CSO led the audience in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. The Nipperts endowed both the CSO music director chair (when held by Paavo Järvi) and the Cincinnati Pops conductor chair (held for many years by the late Erich Kunzel).
She said, “All my life I’ve loved music. I want to see the orchestra healthy for its next century. This is something I do gladly.”
As she was about to begin her second century, Mrs. Nippert was honored as the recipient of the Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio on May 9, 2012 in Columbus. She passed away on Monday, July 22, 2012, and Matinée Musicale dedicated our 100th Anniversary Season to her memory.
We continue to honor her. Thanks to her generous support we continue to fulfill and even expand our mission.
