GHOSTS WORLD PREMIERE
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Composer: C. F. Kip Winger

Performed by the San Francisco Ballet

"Lovely, serene passages face forceful, chilling interludes in this world premiere by Christopher Wheeldon that features music by two-time platinum recording artist, Kip Winger." ~SF Ballet Website

February 9, 2010 8:00pm
February 10, 2010 7:30pm
February 12, 2010 8:00pm
February 14, 2010 2:00pm
February 18, 2010 8:00pm
February 20, 2010 2:00pm
February 20, 2010 8:00pm

Hope to see you there!

http://www.sfballet.org

http://www.sfballet.org/performancestickets/buytickets.asp

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PRESS and PROGRAM NOTES
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"Any new ballet by Christopher Wheeldon is an event; "Ghosts" is his fifth San Francisco commission, a large-scale work set to an original score by the pop world’s Kip Winger." ~ San Francisco Chronicle
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"Christopher Wheeldon has announced the music that will accompany his new work for the 2010 Repertory Season. The piece, Ghosts, will premiere on Program 2, and is set to a classical score by the same name composed by Kip Winger, lead singer of the band Winger." ~ Voice of Dance

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"A few personal picks from the many inviting local musical events of 2010....the world premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's Ghosts, to music by platinum recording artist Kip Winger. ~San Francisco Classical Voice

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"Ghosts: Suite No. 1 for Orchestra"
"Kip Winger studied ballet for years, and was in a ballet company at age 19. "Since then, in the back of my mind, I've known I would try to take on the idea of writing music for dance. I've always been wanting to write orchestra music for dance."

Between tours and rock recordings, he's studied music. He was encouraged by a professor at Vanderbilt University to translate his rock music writing "into these instruments and see what happens." The result "Ghosts," and there are more to come.

When he wrote the first movement for "Ghosts," Winger had "a particular choreographer in mind," Christopher Wheeldon. Wheeldon heard it, "liked it," and "asked me to make it 20 minutes. Strange things in life where it actually worked." Wheeldon, in fact, has choreographed a dance to "Ghosts" that'll premiere with the San Francisco Ballet in February. ~Explorer News

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Christopher Wheeldon goes out on a limb (Interview Excerpt)

Q: Your next San Francisco Ballet commission, "Ghosts," premieres February 9. Can you tantalize us with a few words about it?

A: The inspiration came from a short piece for violin and piano written for me by rock musician Kip Winger. I wished it could have been longer. In a couple of months, Kip had it fully scored, extended to 25 minutes, recorded and on my desk. I was surprised at how something this lyrical and beautiful could have come from a rock musician. The ballet seems to be about a group of people who have lost their lives together and may be drowning. ~San Francisco Chronicle

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PROGRAM NOTES
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Ghosts©

In Christopher Wheeldon's newest ballet, Ghosts, the title--that single, potent word--engenders lingering images in the mind. The name comes from the score, composed by C.F. Kip Winger. And though the music has its eerie moments--"it's kind of silvery, the way the piano creeps in and out," says Wheeldon--without that title it could have been interpreted in many ways. But once you hear the word "ghosts," there's no turning back. Lovely, serene passages face repeated attacks by forceful, chilling interludes, as if something out there doesn't want to be forgotten.

Composer C.F. Kip Winger, who became interested in classical music composition as a young dance student, met Wheeldon in 1997, when a friend took him to watch rehearsals at New York City Ballet. Ten years later, after seeing Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company perform three of the choreographer's ballets, Winger says he was "extremely inspired" and sat down to write a piece for him. At the time, Winger was working in a recording studio that had been a hospital in the early 1900s, and he "could sense a mystical presence in the atmosphere; several different characters were emerging in the text of the music," he says. "The title Ghosts popped into my head when I was writing the cello solo in the first movement."

Winger began his music career at a young age, performing professionally at age eight with his two older brothers. As a teenager, he studied classical guitar and composition with Sam Guarnaccia at the University of Denver and continued his training at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, the University of New Mexico, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville. A bassist with Alice Cooper's band in the 1980s, Winger formed his own eponymous band in the '90s, releasing two platinum albums, Winger and In the Heart of the Young.

What Winger gave Wheeldon was only one movement, and though the choreographer liked it, the six-minute piece was too short for a ballet. So he asked Winger if he would extend it. "About six to eight months later I got a box in my office, and it was a fully orchestrated, fully recorded and scored piece of music with a note saying, 'Dear Chris, hope you like it,' " Wheeldon says. He decided to use the score for his fifth commission for San Francisco Ballet; Ghosts brings the tally of his ballets in the Company's repertory to nine.

The score's title got Wheeldon thinking. He wondered if there might be a narrative in it, so he read Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts "in case [the play and the music] happened to align, and of course they don't," he says. "And then I thought maybe it's just the atmosphere of ghosts. Maybe [the dancers] are ghosts but they're not telling a specific story—they're just sort of there, sort of left." Drawing further on literature in his early explorations of theme, Wheeldon turned to the poems of Edgar Allen Poe: "The City in the Sea," "To One in Paradise," "Lenore," "The Valley of Unrest." With evocative phrases like "death looks gigantically down," "melancholy waters" and "lilies . . . that weep above a nameless grave," poems influenced Wheeldon's creative process without becoming literal onstage.

Wheeldon ended up with the idea of a mass gathering of souls, as there might be after a tragedy, but with the intention of creating only atmosphere, not story. "You're not quite sure where you are or whether these people are rea--are they characters or are they not? So it's more like perfume than a heavy sort of ghost story," he says. A forbidding stage environment and shreds of realism in the costumes combine with the choreography, music, and mood to create images of a community struggling to define itself, its people united by their search for understanding in a world unknown to them.

With four musical movements, the ballet is "big and complex," Wheeldon says, "[with] a lot of steps, a lot of quite complicated corps de ballet work." He worked especially fast on this ballet, creating classicism-entrenched contemporary movement, tossed with jazz and modern dance influences, that challenges even Damian Smith and Yuan Yuan Tan, the versatile principal dancers who dance the pas de deux.

"The pas de deux is extremely difficult," Tan says. "It's not very long, but it feels long because there are a lot of lifts, and Damian is never putting me down. We do a lot of intense movement, but it's so beautiful." She says Wheeldon didn't suggest images of ghosts and death to her, and she approaches the role as if "it's a relationship, like husband and wife. That's how it feel--just like moments of tenderness, and the movement, and the vision we're making." Sometimes, she says, dancers don't need much to work with: "Keep it simple and let the steps help you."

According to Smith, all of the ballet's partnering is extremely difficult. "Every moment there is an intertwined, off-balance, tangled partnership that never seems to unwind, a kind of thread that's constantly knotted." His arm curving through the air as illustration, he explains that "if your arm is wrapped around her neck, you have to keep it there and lift her--no changing grips." Adding to the challenge, he says, is the layered movement quality. Though the music might be legato, "[Wheeldon] wants us to dance it very sharp, direct, and precise, to kind of go against the music, and then choose moments when we are more lyrical and soft with the arms." Although in previous ballets Wheeldon has matched movement to music in less symmetrical ways than is typical of classical ballet (perhaps most noticeably in his trio of ballets set to the music of György Ligeti), in Ghosts he emphasizes the shifts in contrast. "He wants a definite transition between those two qualities of movement," says Smith, "so strong and sharp and direct, and then soft and seamless."

In rehearsals Wheeldon often asked the dancers to shift their center of gravity off their supporting leg, at times yielding their weight to the floor, at others conveying a floating feeling. Twists on classical steps expand the vocabulary: chaînés (two-footed turns) speed up into spins; slow, leaden walks push across the floor; women on pointe drag one leg behind them ("an homage to Michael Jackson," Wheeldon says). "I love the freedom of not ever putting any restrictions on what I do in the studio. It's a wonderful feeling to go in there and think, 'I can do anythin--let’s see where we go with this.' "

As Wheeldon has matured as a choreographer, he has found that the rewards of his art have changed. Earlier in his career he was too fixated on the final product to appreciate his time in the studio. Now, although he concedes that what goes before audiences is still very important to him, he can see that he "wasn't fully absorbing the riches of the process itself. And now that's my favorite thing. Now it's about all the discovery with the dancers, with the designers--the first time you see the model, the first time you run the pas de deux, the first time you see the set onstage, the first time you hear the orchestra--those are all really magical moments."

Program notes by Cheryl Ossola

Ballet's Newest Composer, Kip Winger

Just got back from a European tour with Winger; we did 16 shows from Spain to Greece and everything in-between. And now I am really looking forward to experiencing the world premiere of Ghosts with San Francisco Ballet!

Most people don't know that writing music for ballet has been a life--ong passion of mine, but not just to write a rock/pop piece for dance, to write a legitimate classical piece of music.

When I was 16, a girlfriend of mine pressured me to take a ballet class!  She hated it, but I was instantly hooked, especially by the music from the Ballet Russe era.

Over the years I studied music as much as possible.  My schedule as a rock musician, which doesn't leave much time for anything, led me to an auto-didactic approach out of necessity, but I managed to stay with it, fueled by the passion and inspiration of someday seeing world-class ballet dancers performing to my music.

Years later I met Zippora Karz who at the time was a soloist with NYC Ballet. It was incredible for me to go backstage and meet the dancers and see performances. In the rock world you don't meet too many people who know the name Helgi Tomasson or Peter Martins. It was fantastic to have that experience.

After studying a few years with a new composition teacher, Michael Kurek, and being heavily impacted by the works of various composers, for example Honegger, Ravel, Adams, and Vaughan Williams, I began writing.

The 1st movement grew out of the first five measures of the cadenza.  When I was finished, I sent it to Zippora and asked her to contact Christopher Wheeldon. In my mind, this piece was always for Chris. Not only from seeing his amazing work, but I had an instinct about it.

I emailed an mp3 to him and held my breath.  Now,  everyone in the creative world knows that there are many ups and downs. One hundred no's to one yes.  For me this was one of those magical times when the universe is watching over you. A few weeks went by and I woke up to an email from Chris Wheeldon. subject : "I love it !" Wow!! I have to admit I let out a major rock and roll YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

He then said, "Now, can you make it 20 minutes?" So I set out to write two more movements; all in all the piece took about a year and a half to finish, given my schedule.

When I was finished, I scheduled a recording session in New York to record the piece. My orchestral contractor pulled together an amazing group of NY players and we got a great performance of the piece recorded.  After editing and mixing, I mailed the CD to Chris and held my breath again. The next email from Chris said (drum roll.)

"I love Ghosts and hope to (with your permission) use it for San Francisco Ballet next year".

After several months the phone rang, it was Chris telling me he will be in San Francisco to set the ballet in a month or so, oh and by the way, is there anyway you can make the piece four minutes longer!?  I was panicked for a few minutes and then the amazing flow of inspiration came over me and I wrote what is now the second movement in two weeks.

In June 2009 I was on the West Coast and came to see one day of the rehearsals for Ghosts. It was incredible to see it come to life! As expected, the dancing was world-class, and the choreography, awesome! As luck would have it, I happened to stop in on the day Chris was working on the new movement.

Next stop San Francisco! My job is easy now, I get to sit back and enjoy the show!

For other published stories and feature articles, please be sure to visit Kip's blogs on MySpace

Christopher Wheeldon rehearsing his world premiere Ghosts, which opens next Tuesday, with San Francisco Ballet dancers.
(© Erik Tomasson)

Lovely, serene passages face forceful, chilling interludes in this world premiere by Christopher Wheeldon that features music by two-time platinum recording artist, Kip Winger.

Performed by the San Francisco Ballet
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Composer: C.F. Winger

Performance dates are:
Tue Feb 9, 2010 8pm
Wed Feb 10, 7:30pm
Fri Feb 12, 8pm
Sun Feb 14, 2pm
Thu Feb 18, 8pm
Sat Feb 20, 2pm and 8pm

Website: http://www.sfballet.org

Be sure to read the San Francisco Chronicle's interview with Christopher Wheeldon below.

Christopher Wheeldon goes out on a limb
San Francisco Chonicle

by Allan Ulrich, Chronicle Dance Correspondent

Three years ago, Christopher Wheeldon made trouble for himself. One of the most gifted and in-demand classical choreographers of his generation, the young Englishman severed his ties with New York City Ballet, reduced his load of international commissions and, with the collaboration of former NYC Ballet principal dancer Lourdes Lopez, started his own chamber ballet repertory company.

That company, Morphoses (named after the third of Wheeldon's ballets set to the music of György Ligeti), begins its first West Coast tour Friday evening with dances by Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Edwaard Liang and Lightfoot León making up the repertoire. All but "Continuum" and the Liang pas de deux will be new to the Bay Area, and all will be performed by an array of 18 dancers, a few of whom (Rory Hohenstein, Drew Jacoby) will be familiar to local audiences.

We caught Wheeldon in Morphoses' New York office just back from a gig in Spain and in the midst of the company's final rehearsal period:

Q: I would reckon that the mortality rate for new dance companies is about as great as that for new restaurants. So what prompted you to take the plunge?

A: Many reasons. I had a desire to see what I could do helming the ship. I had an interest in programming and in testing the waters to see what would work for an audience. With Morphoses, there's the possibility of having at my disposal a group of dancers working full time (though, economically, we haven't yet reached that stage). And I'd like to make ballet performances a bit friendlier.

Q: Friendlier?

A: There's a certain stigma that ballet, like opera, can be an elitist art form. People come away from abstract dance with the feeling that they didn't connect because they had no understanding of what went into it, or what it's about. So, at every performance, I both give them the ballets and let them in on a little bit of the process in a preperformance speech. It seems to have worked wonderfully well.

Q: Was Balanchine right? Do abstract ballets even exist?

A: Not in our minds. As a choreographer, you have to know what you're trying to say. You have to be aware of the relationships you are creating onstage; otherwise, ballet is just a series of steps, and that's how people will interpret them.

Q: I read these Cassandra-like predictions of doom for Morphoses from the East Coast media. Do they bother you?

A: We've not always had the greatest press, but I can tell you that the feedback from the public has softened some of the blows. At both Sadlers' Wells in London and at New York City Center, where we are guest residents, we have built tremendous loyalty with big audiences. And we've had great success with our year-end campaign, mostly with small donations. In this economic crisis, we've had to be terribly creative.

Q: I am happy that during this crisis, you haven't compromised on live music. The two big pieces on the tour program, "Continuum" and your new "Rhapsody Fantaisie," will have the original keyboard accompaniments. Was this planned from the beginning?

A: Absolutely. Live music is another big challenge, and it makes us rather expensive if we have an orchestral program. It's a big commitment, but it's also a major selling point for Morphoses.

Q: You are reviving "Continuum," a well-received 2002 San Francisco Ballet commission. Why?

A: For practical reasons. I think it's an interesting piece musically. I put it in the touring repertoire and there just wasn't the rehearsal time to substitute another work. But it will be fascinating to see how it looks with a different cast and in a more intimate setting than the Opera House. The first time I went to the Novellus Theater at Yerba Buena, I thought that if Morphoses is ever to have our own theater, this would be the perfect place. I think we will be able to connect with it.

Q: Your next San Francisco Ballet commission, "Ghosts," premieres February 9. Can you tantalize us with a few words about it?

A: The inspiration came from a short piece for violin and piano written for me by rock musician Kip Winger. I wished it could have been longer. In a couple of months, Kip had it fully scored, extended to 25 minutes, recorded and on my desk. I was surprised at how something this lyrical and beautiful could have come from a rock musician. The ballet seems to be about a group of people who have lost their lives together and may be drowning.

Q: Ratmansky and yourself have been linked as the potential saviors of classical dance? Does this weigh upon you?

A: I'm happy to have a partner in crime, finally. Alexei and I both love ballets and both love to create them. But, if the art form is to survive, there have to be more than two of us.

PRESS RELEASE

New York, NY-January 14, 2010 --Put away your sleeping bags and flashlights and pack up your guitar and drumsticks, as it's going to be blood, sweat, and tears when VH1 Classic takes you on the adventure of a lifetime with the new original series "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp." Production is set to begin on the series in February 2010. The four-episode, one-hour series is set to premiere in July 2010.

VH1 Classic and Mark Burnett Productions have teamed up to give fans the ultimate music experience to fulfill their rock and roll fantasies. In a new, hour-long, weekly docu-series, viewers will get to watch as 15 musicians from a variety of backgrounds and cities will go through the transformative process of becoming "rock stars."

"Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp has allowed musicians around the world to make their dreams a reality," said Mark Burnett. "We are delighted to produce a series about this real-life process and work with the great team at VH1 Classic."

For more details and to see the official press release please visit

Today is the Official Release of my other band's new self-titled CD, Blackwood Creek. So far, the reviews have been great and we hope you dig the music! You can hear the tracks on our player and access links to purchase.

Thanks for your support!

Europe - Release Date December 4, 2009
Frontiers Records
Amazon UK

USA - Release Date January 12, 2010
NEH Records
Amazon USA

Japan- Release Date November 26, 2009
CD Japan
Amazon (Japan)

Kip will be counseling again at the upcoming Rock Fantasy Camp Feb 23-28, 2010 in Hollywood, CA.

For those of you not familiar with this, here is a little info from the camp: "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp is the ultimate music experience that allows musicians and enthusiasts alike the once in a lifetime opportunity to jam with legendary rock stars, play live on stage at major concert venues, and live their rock 'n' roll dreams."

Other artists confirmed to appear:

The following artsists are confirmed to appear:

Sammy Hagar (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN)
Michael Anthony (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN)
Vince Neil (MÖTLEY CRÜE)
Mark Farner (GRAND FUNK RAILROAD)
Ace Frehley (KISS)
Bruce Kulick (KISS)
Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT)
Mark Hudson (producer, songwriter AEROSMITH)
Kip Winger (WINGER)
Spike Edney (QUEEN)
Teddy Andreadis (GUNS N' ROSES)
Rami Jaffee (FOO FIGHTERS)

Limited-Edition Picture Discs Due In
January - Nov. 19, 2009

Inner Wound Recordings has announced the first releases on the
label. JORN's "Spirit Black", DANGER DANGER's "Revolve" and WINGER's

"Karma" will all be made available as limited 12" picture-disc
editions, strictly limited to 250 copies. A deal was inked with the
Italian label Frontiers Records and the release date is set for
January 21 for the three releases.

Mama's Fallen Angel's has put up a 2-part audio interview where they discuss Kip's Classical music, the recent TSO performance and the upcoming San Francisco Ballet debut. They also discuss Winger, Blackwood Creek, and his solo career, among other things.

Mama's Fallen Angel's has put up a 2-part audio interview where they discuss Kip's Classical music, the recent TSO performance and the upcoming San Francisco Ballet debut. They also discuss Winger, Blackwood Creek, and his solo career, among other things.

Arizona Spotlight airs Saturday Nov 14 at 7 pm on KUAZ 89.1. http://radio.azpm.org/kuaz

Lifestyle Tucson airs Sunday morning Nov 15 at 8 a.m. on KLPX, 96.1 FM http://www.klpx.com/ and KFMA 92.1 FM. http://www.kfma.com

I think both shows will be archived on the stations' websites at least for a while.

All times listed are Arizona times.

Man taking mom to symphony

Rock star Kip Winger has written a composition to
be performed by the TSO.

In this instance, C.F. 'Kip' Winger wrote the music, and he's a rock star

By Dave Perry, The Explorer
Published:
November-11-2009

C.F. "Kip" Winger is coming to Tucson this week to see his mother.

He'll take his mom Margo to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra's world premiere performance of a new symphony, "Ghosts: Suite No. 1 for Orchestra."

Kip wrote "Ghosts." It's a new, yet much contemplated, direction for a rock 'n' roller who sang lead for the Alan Parsons Project, played guitar with Alice Cooper, and is headed to Europe next week for a four-week tour with his rock band, Winger. Symphony to hard rock? "Opposite ends of the extreme there," he said Monday from Nashville, where he lives and is preparing for the Europe tour.

This weekend's performances, Friday at Canyon Del Oro High School in Oro Valley, Saturday and Sunday at Catalina Foothills High School, "couldn't have worked out better," Winger said. "Your first symphony performance happens to be in your mom's hometown. It doesn't get any better than that."

Winger is "very excited, and a little nervous" about the premiere,
he allowed. "You write the music and then you don't remember it.
I've got to look back over it and see what I did."

It's a new experience in many ways. For one, Winger is about to sit in an audience and hear his music performed by a symphony orchestra. He's attending Wednesday and Thursday rehearsals by the TSO, "which is really cool. I'm hoping they'll let me take a photo."

As a live performer, Winger knows "how to get myself through a few mistakes" It might be "kind of a helpless feeling" if the TSO were to err in "Ghosts." He doesn't expect it. "They're a great
orchestra. I just think it's going to be great."

Kip Winger studied ballet for years, and was in a ballet company at age 19. "Since then, in the back of my mind, I've known I would try to take on the idea of writing music for dance. I've always been wanting to write orchestra music for dance."

Between tours and rock recordings, he's studied music. He was
encouraged by a professor at Vanderbilt University to translate his rock music writing "into these instruments and see what happens."

The result - "Ghosts," and there are more to come.

When he wrote the first movement for "Ghosts," Winger had "a
particular choreographer in mind," Christopher Wheeldon. Wheeldon heard it, "liked it," and "asked me to make it 20 minutes. Strange things in life where it actually worked." Wheeldon, in fact, has choreographed a dance to "Ghosts" that'll premiere with the San Francisco Ballet in February.

Winger is a friend with Dan Coleman, former TSO composer-in-residence. Through that relationship, a recording of "Ghosts" caught the ear of TSO music director and conductor George
Hanson. Winger is "honored by the fact" Hanson decided to perform "Ghosts."

"To me, having the TSO do it is the ultimate compliment, because it isn't for dance" and there won't be dancers this weekend, Winger said. "You can't get by in the concert venue. It has to be good."

Winger said the transition from rock 'n' roll to classical music was
"more natural" than might be expected. "I always approach the rock albums like classical records," he said. "I'm not a jammer. I
approach them very orchestrated."

"Ghosts" is representative of a transition for Winger, who once
aspired to be a rock 'n' roll superstar.

"It's been very surreal," he said. "Now I'm thinking, 'what are you
going to do next?'"

For starters, Winger "added the C.F. (for Charles Frederick) to the
beginning of my name, even in the rock world. It's a transition into
that whole thing, to differentiate the old me and the new me."

"This is where I want to be," he said. "I've written every kind of
rock and pop song you could ever imagine, I've kind of been there, done that. I'm not seeking to be a super famous rock star; I'm kind of over it. I want to focus on composing, and trying to be a better composer."

TSO MasterWorks Chamber Orchestra

Mendelssohn, Haydn and the premiere of "Ghosts" by Kip Winger

Friday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. at Canyon Del Oro High School.

Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. at
Catalina Foothills High School.

Tickets, $30 to $40, at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Box Office, by phone at 882-8585, at www.tucsonsymphony.org, and at www.saaca.org, or 797-3959.

Rocker a classical composer
By Cathalena E. Burch

Long before C.F. Kip Winger could bring himself to fully immerse
himself in classical music, he poked a toe or two into the genre.
He penned a stirring string quartet to open his namesake glam rock band's 1989 monster ballad "Hungry"" and infused a classically informed arrangement on 1990's "Rainbow in the Rose."
"Every record I'll put something on there where I'm really blowing
out the composition," he said in a phone interview from Nashville
last week to talk about his first full-drawn classical work,
"Ghosts." The Tucson Symphony Orchestra will give it its world
premiere in concerts this weekend.

"For years I was sneaking in classical bits and pieces in my rock
stuff, planting seeds of my path, leaving bread crumbs to where I
was going," he said.

Winger's journey from glam rocker to classical composer did not
include time spent in classrooms studying music theory and
counterpoint. He did not have that luxury with his full-throttled
rock music career.

"I suffer from impostor syndrome: 'Oh my God, what are they going to think of my music?' So I have probably read more books on composition, theory and counterpoint than anybody in the world because I'm so freaked out that I won't know what I'm doing," said Winger, 48, with a quiet chuckle.

The closest he came to formal studies was working with New Mexico University composition professor Richard Hermann and Nashville composer Michael Kurek, who teaches at Vanderbilt University.

He counts Hermann and Kurek among his growing circle of classical friends, which includes TSO Composer in Residence Dan Coleman. Winger had given Coleman a recording of the first movement of "Ghosts," a piece he wrote on commission for a Christopher Wheeldon ballet that San Francisco Ballet will premiere in February. Coleman liked the 20-minute piece, which opens with an extended violin credenza and weaves in heavenly harps and slightly dissonant keyboards, and suggested the TSO give its world premiere.

Winger had never heard the TSO live, although he's very familiar
with Tucson: His mother and stepfather have lived here for about 20 years. But he researched the orchestra and found a kinship with conductor George Hanson because of Hanson's experience with the rock band R.E.M. (Hanson was the conductor for R.E.M.'s multiplatinum record "Automatic For the People.")

"If Kip Winger were 24 years old and graduated from Juilliard, he
would be performed by all the big orchestras and there would be
articles about him being one of the next great things," said Hanson, reached on his cell phone last week at a guest- conducting gig in Arkansas. "I don't know if he's the next big thing, but this piece is really attractive in many, many ways."

"It will be very satisfying to have achieved a goal I've been
dreaming of for 20 years," Winger said.

Meanwhile, Winger heads out on a European tour with his band the day after he returns from Tucson. The band is touring in support of its just-released album, "Karma," which he described as a full-tilt rocker with "really cool riffs, good melodies, big choruses" and fast guitar solos.

"On this record, I really went back to my roots and did like an
AC/DC record because the classical thing has shifted over to the
real deal now," he said.

Executive editor Scott Barker talks to musician Kip Winger about what he will be bringing to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra's world premiere of Ghosts on Nov. 14 and 15.

Ghosts Story
TSO Masterworks

When Kip Winger arrives in Arizona this month, it will be like coming home. His mother has lived in Tucson for about two decades, he is friends with TSO composer-in-residence Dan Coleman, and back in the 1980's Kip used to play guitar for Alice Cooper, a longtime resident of Paradise Valley.

"I love Arizona," he says. "I go there a lot. I lived in Santa Fe for years so I love the desert. I really thrive in that environment. And it's a special treat for me to come to Tucson for the premiere of Ghosts."

Aficionados of classic arena rock groups remember Kip as the leader of the band Winger, well known for their intricate playing, lightning fast licks and unusually complex songs. But Kip, the son of jazz musicians, was always more than just an axe man. "When I was a kid I was really into impressionistic music," he notes. "Later, I was in a concert hall in Amsterdam for a pretty typical classical show. On the program was Beethoven, Haydn and a the end they played Arthur Honegger's Third Symphony , and it just blew me away. I started studying his music. And he was my template for the harmonic stuff that's happening in Ghosts."

Many a rock performer has forayed into other musical worlds --- sometimes successfully, some not --- and Kip was very careful not to be just another wannabe. "My approach was to study the real deal and find people who could teach me," he says of embarking on his new career. "If I was going to do this, I wanted to do it the right way. I'd had opportunities to write pieces for some big people but I'd passed because I wasn't ready. I've spent the last ten years honing my skills so my compositions sound very organic classically. So far I've gotten a very good response."

The Tucson Symphony Orchestra will world premiere Ghosts on Nov. 14 and 15 at Catalina Foothills High School in a concert that highlights Mendelssohn and Haydn (for tickets, call 882-8585). Not surprisingly for a multifaceted guy like Kip, there's a fascinating origin to the piece. "I had a studio in downtown Nashville that used to be a hospital in the 1920's, and it was a fairly mystical place," Kip reflects. "When I was writing the first movement of this piece, I kept feeling like there was some sort of supernatural thing around me. And as I was writing the cello section the term 'ghosts' came to me. I sort of felt like I was around a bunch of them... like there were extra people in the room with me giving me that inspiration."

Kip also has trained in ballet (which he says came in handy in learning to move gracefully on stage), and the first movement of Ghosts was actually written for Dancer/choreographer Chris Wheeldon. A chamber music group in Austin, Texas, cut a demo of it, and he sent it to Wheeldon, who asked him to expand it to about 20 minutes. The finished version has four movements, and that's what audiences will hear with the TSO. By the way, anyone looking for a preview should buy a copy of Kip's 2008 album From the Moon to the Sun, which features a chamber music rendition of the hauntingly beautiful first movement of Ghosts.

Almost immediately following the performances, Kip will leave for a tour of Europe with the original lineup of Winger in support of the new album Karma. Though he won't have a lot of time here, he is eagerly anticipating soaking up the ambiance, and hearing Ghosts played in a concert hall. "I can't wait to hear the whole thing played live... it will be the first time," he concludes. "In the studio there's always, 'Cut! Take that again.' It's just not the same." --- Scott Barker

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of BLACKWOOD CREEK self titled debut album on December 4th 2009 in Europe and January 12th 2010 in the USA. Album will also be released in Japan November 26, 2009.

BLACKWOOD CREEK is a Kip Winger side project put together with his brother Nate on drums and childhood friend Peter Fletcher on guitar. It all actually started in 1969 in Littleton, Colorado where they went on to play every Jr. High and High school and eventually night clubs in their path, performing songs by their favourite bands like Grand Funk, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin and their original songs which they were particularly passionate about, to the point of getting fired from jobs for not playing enough popular material.

In 1980 they went their separate ways. Nate and Fletcher went to Los Angeles, Kip went to New York, where he landed a gig with Alice Cooper and then went on to form Winger. Nate recorded with many bands in L.A. including Ratt, Kix, Europe. Fletcher formed the Pigmy Love Circus, including drummer Danny Carey from Tool.

Blackwood Creek reformed in 2007 to record 11 new songs. It's obvious that the chemistry is still rock solid. These 11 tracks embody 40 years of blood, sweat and tears of 3 musicians who started out together, went their separate ways and reform on common ground.

The Tucson Symphony MasterWorks Chamber Orchestra comes to the Northwest with its first program of the 2009-'10 season, performing Mendelssohn and Haydn as well as the world premiere of a composition by rock star C.F. "Kip" Winger.

The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance brings the world premier of Winger's "Ghosts" to Oro Valley on Friday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. at Canyon Del Oro High School. Other TSO performances are Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. at Catalina Foothills High School.

Music Director and Conductor George Hanson conducts the TSO in the Overture to Felix Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave, Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 101, "The Clock," and in Winger's "Ghosts: Suite No. 1 for Orchestra."

Musician/composer C.F. Winger discovered his passion for music at an early age. His parents were jazz musicians, and he began studying piano at age six. Two years later, he began playing professionally with his two older brothers. He began studying classical guitar and composition when he was still in his teens.

In the early 1990s with his band, Winger, he released the platinum recordings Winger, In the Heart of the Young and Pull, and led the quartet on sold-out world tours. Winger played bass with Alice Cooper, sang with the Alan Parsons Project, played with The Who's Roger Daltrey and has performed with Bob Dylan.

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."

While topping the charts, Winger continued to pursue his interest in composition.

Professor Michael Kurek from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University praised Winger for his "great ear and innate musical sensitivity" resulting in "beautifully crafted phrases and nuance."

A recording of Ghosts conducted by Lynn Bingham, assistant conductor of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, featuring New York Philharmonic associate principal Lisa Kim on violin, drew the attention of the TSO's composer-in residence, Dan Coleman.

The TSO's world premiere performance of "Ghosts" will be followed by the San Francisco Ballet's February premiere of the new ballet top choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has created to accompany the 20-minute composition. Later in November, Winger and his band start a world tour in Rome, with stops in Paris, Belgium, Holland, Moscow, Greece, Denmark, Eastern Europe, Spain and England.

The Mendelssohn and Haydn program opens with Felix Mendelssohn's sonic interpretation of Fingal's Cave in the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. The cave's Gallic name means "the cave of music," because when the water is calm enough, visitors can row into the 227-foot-long cave and revel in the sound of the waves. Closing the program is Haydn't Symphony No. 101, later subtitled "The Clock" because of the sound of the tick-tock accompaniment of bassoon and plucked strings in the second movement.

The MasterWorks Chamber Orchestra Series receives generous support from Drs. John P. and Helen S. Schaefer.

MasterWorks Series single tickets, priced at $30 to $40, are available at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Box Office located at 2175 N. Sixth Avenue, or by phone at 882-8585. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.tucsonsymphony.org.

For tickets to the SAACA presentation at CDO, visit www.saaca.org or call 797-3959.

TSO MasterWorks Chamber Orchestra

Mendelssohn, Haydn and the premiere of "Ghosts" by Kip Winger

Friday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. at Canyon Del Oro High School.

Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. at Catalina Foothills High School.

Tickets, $30 to $40, at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Box Office, by phone at 882-8585, at www.tucsonsymphony.org, and at www.saaca.org, or 797-3959.

In addition to the two world premiere performances of C.F. Kip Winger's Ghosts by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra November 14 and 15, 2009, two additional performances are being presented by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance on Friday, November 13 at 8:00 pm and Green Valley Recreation on Tuesday, November 24 at 7:30 pm. Location and ticket information can be found on the Tucson Symphony Press Release

"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."

Today marks the official release of our new CD "Karma". Been cool to read such great reviews..hope you all dig it.
........Kip Winger

Several very favorable reviews have recently been published. To see all reviews, please visit our MySpace Blogs or our FaceBook notes.

To submit reviews for consideration please send us an email with your review, name of publication and a link to the published review.

We are embarking on an International tour in support of our new CD Karma. See the Tour Dates page for details.

The only Official Fan Page on Face Book.

The only Official Fan Page on Face Book.

Frontiers Records now taking pre-orders for Winger's new CD "Karma".

Frontiers Records proudly announces the release of WINGER's fifth studio album entitled "Karma" on October 16th in Europe and October 27th in the USA.

WINGER reunited after more than a decade in 2006 for the release of the successful come back album entitled "IV" a record that pushed forward the boundaries of WINGER classic sound to new heights. Dealing with the concept of the military life and what it was like to be a soldier, from a soldier's perspective, leaving politics at the door. "After Winger IV we toured the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan during which made a live record" says Kip Winger. "When the chance came up to do a new Winger record, I envisioned a upbeat totally rocking record that was a cross between the 1st Winger album and Pull. So Reb and I sat down and wrote all the music in a month or so. I worked for 6 months to finish it in the classic Winger style".

The result is an amazing new record where the four band members: Kip Winger (bass and vocals), Reb Beach (guitars now also in Whitesnake), Rod Morgenstein and John Roth shine with an incredible instrumental and vocal prowess at the service of superb Hard Rock songs but with an uncanny sense of melody. The title itself "Karma" represents Winger completing its full musical circle as Kip Winger explains "We were discussing the very interesting path the band has had and we have all been through so much together. So we went for "Karma" as this is a word that truly sums up the experience of being in the band".

WINGER debut album in 1988 on Atlantic achieved platinum status in the United States, and gold in Japan and Canada sporting such hits as "Madalaine", "Seventeen" and "Headed For A Heartbreak". In 1990, the band was nominated for an American Music Award for "Best New Heavy Metal Band". Shortly after, WINGER released its second album "In the Heart of the Young", which went platinum in the U.S. and gold in Japan. The album included WINGER's biggest hit "Miles Away", who topped at #12 of Billboard charts in the USA. Their third and last studio album, "Pull", was recorded in 1992/93 as a three-piece band, following the original keyboard / guitar player Paul Taylor's departure. Produced by Mike Shipley, on the following tour John Roth was called in to replace Paul Taylor.

"Usually Winger fans don't "expect" anything because they know we do what we feel like doing artistically" explains Kip. "It is not a commercially driven band. I can say that the songs are very upbeat". Reb Beach adds: "It's a very up-tempo riff driven rocking record. It has the elements of vintage Winger from '89 but has the blood, sweat and tears of years 20 years of writing, recording and touring!"

"Karma" will be released with the first pressing in limited digipak edition and includes the following songs:

Deal with the Devil; Stone Cold Killer; Big World Away; Come A Little Closer; Pull Me Under; Supernova; Always Within Me; Feeding Frenzy; After All This Time; Witness; First Ending (Bonus Track). Also included there will be an Electronic Press Kit, with footage filmed in the studio during the recording sessions, that is playable on all computers as an interactive bonus.

Samples can be heard on the Official Winger Website: http://www.wingertheband.com

Winger also announced their forthcoming European tour in support to the new album's release:

20-Nov ITALY - Roma, Crossroads
21-Nov ITALY - Pinarella di Cervia (RA), Rock Planet
22-Nov ITALY - Pavia, Thunder Road
24-Nov FRANCE - Paris, Maroquinerie
25-Nov BELGIUM - Verviers, Spirit of '66
26-Nov HOLLAND - Weert, Bosuil
27-Nov RUSSIA - Moscow, Plan B
28-Nov RUSSIA - Ufa, Rock Club
30-Nov GREECE - Ioannina, n.a.
1-Dec GREECE - Athens, Gagarin/tbc
3-Dec GREECE - Thessaloniki, n.a.
4-Dec DENMARK - Copenhagen, The Rock
6-Dec POLAND - Warsaw, Progresja
7-Dec CZECH REP. - Prague, Exit/tbc
8-Dec AUSTRIA - Wien, tbc
9-Dec HUNGARY - Budapest, A38
11-Dec SWITZERLAND - Worblaufen, Tibis
12-Dec SPAIN Madrid - Ritmo y Compas

More dates will follow in 2010 in Europe, USA and elsewhere !

Catalina Foothills High School
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 2:00 PM

Tickets go on sale Aug 24th. Order yours by calling the box office at 520-882-8585 or online at http://www.tucsonsymphony.org

Wheeldon World Premiere
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Composer: C. F. Winger

A world premiere by one of today's most gifted and esteemed choreographers working in classical ballet, Christopher Wheeldon.

performance dates are:
Tue Feb 9, 2010 8pm
Wed Feb 10, 7:30pm
Fri Feb 12, 8pm
Sun Feb 14, 2pm
Thu Feb 18, 8pm
Sat Feb 20, 2pm and 8pm

How would you like to fly down to Los Angeles, learn rock 'n' roll from masters like Grammy-winner Mark Hudson, hang out with Steven Tyler and Todd Rundgren, record at Capitol Records Studios and play a gig at the Whiskey a Go Go?

A plaque & the American flag was presented to Kip Winger on April 24, 2008 by the Government of the United States of America.

The flag was the last United States of America flag to fly over Forward Operating Base (FOB) Kalso, located in Iskandaria, Iraq, 20 miles south of Baghdad. Before it was turned over to the Iraqis, FOB Kalso was the U.S. Army soldiers broadband internet services facility in Iraq as well as a base to stop enemy activity in the Sunni Triangle.

The inscription on the plaque reads:

Department of Defense Seal

IN APPRECIATION OF RECORDING ARTIST

KIP WINGER

AND HIS MUSICAL COMPOSITION
"BLUE SUEDE SHOES"
HONORING THE SERVICE AND SACRIFICE
OF OUR UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES
AND THEIR FAMILIES.

OUR SINCERE THANKS,
GENERAL HAROLD CROSS
(FOUR STAR GENERAL)