It was one of the biggest surprises in classical music: Turns out Nashville resident Kip Winger, the former bassist for Alice Cooper and namesake of his oft-maligned heavy metal band Winger, is a terrific classical composer. His ballet scoreConversations With Nijinsky, performed last season by the Nashville Symphony, is a rhythmically vital, lyrically appealing dance piece that more than holds its own with works like Stravinsky’s Firebird. No wonder his score was nominated for a Grammy. He now joins the ranks of other Nashville-based composers such as Ben Folds, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Tracy Silverman, Matt Walker and Victor Wooten as musicians who can seemingly do it all. JOHN PITCHER
Best Ballet Score
Kip Winger’s Conversations With Nijinsky
Kip Winger
