NEWS
-
Jul 29, 2010
Rock Fantasy Camp Feature
Spotlight on: Kip Winger
Kip Winger, the multi-platinum recording artist, may be known best for his success with Winger and his early days as a bass player with Alice Cooper. However the range and scope of his musical journey can be more fully experienced in his solo albums, This Conversation seems like a Dream, Songs from the Ocean Floor, From the Moon to the Sun and his most recent composition Ghosts, for string orchestra. piano and harp.
In 1995, after his hugely successful run with Winger, Kip built a studio in the hills of Santa Fe, New Mexico and started writing and producing music without limits. It is in Kip's solo work that he has been able to exercise the breadth of his talents as a composer. London's Classic Rock Magazine called him "one of the most gifted composers and arrangers in the rock genre" and praised his "compulsion to experiment."
Over the years Kip has continued to pursue his interest in composition. He patterned his course of study after the intensive one-on-one relationships favored by many composers he sought out, such masters as Edgar Grana, who holds a Masters from Juilliard, and currently teaches composition at the School of Visual Arts in New York City; University of New Mexico Professor of Theory and Composition, Richard Hermann; and Professor Michael Kurek from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. Professor Kurek has praised him for his "great ear and innate musical sensitivity" resulting in "beautifully crafted phrases and nuance."
Aside from his powerful solo acoustic shows and touring with Winger, Kip was the lead singer for the Alan parsons live project. He has performed or recorded with the likes of Alice Cooper, Mark Farner, Roger Daltrey, and Neal Schon, and Bob Dylan.
The fifth studio album by Winger was released in 2009 and The Tucson Symphony Orchestra became the first orchestra to perform a C.F. Kip Winger composition with the world premiere of Ghosts on the Master Works Chamber Orchestra Series in the 2009/10 season. The symphony performance was followed closely by the San Francisco Ballet's debut of Ghosts in February, 2010.
Kip is currently touring with Winger and doing solo gigs around the world as well as composing a new Ballet for Christopher Wheeldon. You can catch Kip in the television premier of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, October 16, 2010 on VH1 Classic.
