NEWS
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Oct 21, 2009
C.F. Kip Winger Feature in Symphony Magazine
September - October 2009 Issue
"I'm increasingly interested in orchestral music because
of the vast landscape of emotion I can create, "says rock
musician/dancer/composer Kip Winger.
Brought to you by AmericanOrchestras.org and Symphony Magazine
New Voices
Dylan Thomas Songs is one of three big, imaginative commissions scheduled for the Tucson Symphony's 2009-10 season.
The eyebrow-raiser of the group is Ghosts, a piece by rocker Kip Winger scheduled for its world premiere on November 14, 2009. Winger doesn't fit the typical profile of the symphonic composer; he's founder and front man of the band Winger (1987-94, reformed in 2006), who also was lead singer of the Alan Parsons Project and, earlier, a bass player in Alice Cooper's band.
But then, there's not much about Winger that is typical. He has performed as a dancer, and says he originally wrote Ghosts as a work for ballet, "specifically for the choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, formerly of New York City Ballet and currently the director of his own company, Morphoses." (The world premiere of the ballet version of Ghosts is set for February 9, 2010 at the San Francisco Ballet.)
Meanwhile, Winger explains, the Tucson Symphony's composer-in-residence, Dan Coleman, had gotten a copy of the Ghosts score and showed it to Music Director George Hanson, who liked it and scheduled the 2009 world premiere. Because Winger has performed as a dancer, that kinetic experience led him to "imagine dance" as he was writing the music. And although he's most famous as a rock musician, he says this new work isn't really a departure for him. "I've been working in this direction for many years," says Winger. "Given my professional background in pop music, I never had the time to go to school for composition. My approach was to study privately with various composers throughout the years, similar to the way it was done before the institution of music conservatories. I believe that different styles of music can coexist - one can actually inspire another. I'm increasingly interested in orchestral music because of the vast landscape of emotion I can create."
