NEWS
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Jan 20, 2012
Rockstar Kip Winger to Record Ballet at Oberlin Conservatory by Andrew Willens
"It was always one of my main goals to write for dance," Winger said, "When I was studying dance, emotionally I was struck by Stravinsky to the core."
Oberlin, OH - Students at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music will have the opportunity to gain professional recording experience with hair-metal icon Kip Winger this January, when the 1980s glam-rocker breaks ground on the Conversations with Nijinsky recording project in Oberlin's Warner Concert Hall.
Nijinsky, a new-music ballet Winger was asked to write by choreographer Chris Wheeldon, will be recorded entirely by Oberlin students and is being considered an invaluable professional opportunity by the conservatory.
Though many in the all-student, 62-piece orchestra are excited to work with Winger on what they expect to be a genre-defying piece, some are cautious of Nijinsky's pop-gone-classical background.
Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull, however, says that students have much to learn from the experience, and Winger is confident they'll deliver an outstanding performance.
"Renaissance Dude"
Winger found Oberlin through his unique artistic influences, a blend of rock and roll, classical composition, and contemporary ballet music.
He's best known as the vocalist and bassplayer with his band "Winger" and heavy metal pioneer Alice Cooper. After playing with Cooper from 1984 to 1986, Winger released two platinum-selling albums with his own group, 1989's Winger and 1990's In the Heart of the Young.
Winger's music, however, is also influenced by his pursuit of ballet. He studied dance for more than twenty years and performed professionally for "a few seasons" with the Colorado State Ballet Company as a teenager.
