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Warsaw art teacher brings macabre
dance to “life”
for MSO performance Oct. 29
The artistry of Warsaw teacher Karen June Klimpert, combined with many
hours in area cemeteries and the assistance of a Manchester College art
professor, comes to life Sunday, Oct. 29 behind the Manchester Symphony
Orchestra.
Klimpert has created two dozen background paintings and about 70 cels
(acetate cellulose) overlays to “animate” skeletons for about 300 scenes
that will be projected during the MSO’s performance of Danse Macabre
by Camille Saint-Saëns. She has spent hundreds of hours on this project,
often until the wee hours of the morning.
Manchester art Professor James R.C. Adams has assisted by photographing
sections of Klimpert’s scenes to create more background, and by
providing the video synchronization with the music. (Adams also does the
program notes for the MSO.)
Klimpert and Adams volunteered to do the project with MSO Director
Suzanne Gindin’s blessing, “because it will be fun to see and I think we
know how to pull it off,” said Adams. Neither Klimpert nor Adams has
received reimbursement.
Klimpert has spent many hours in graveyards, getting ideas for the
music about death arriving in a cemetery at midnight and playing a waltz
on his violin. The dead rise from their graves to dance for him. The
music lasts only seven minutes but synchronizing all the clips with the
music took many hours and $14,000 in professional editing equipment.
Next week, after the performance, Klimpert’s work for the Danse
Macabre will be exhibited in Link Gallery on the Manchester College
campus. Adjacent to Wine Recital Hall, the gallery is open 8 a.m. to 8
p.m. weekdays.
Klimpert is a 1985 art education graduate of Manchester College. She
attended the American Academy of Art and has a master’s in teaching and
learning from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. She has taught in
Warsaw Community Schools for 20 years, also helping with set production
at the College. This is her third collaboration with Adams in providing
visual accompaniment to music productions.
The MSO debuts its 68th season Sunday with Mysterious
Melodies and Haunting Harmonies. The program begins at 3 p.m. in
Cordier Auditorium on the Manchester College campus. Tickets are $7.50
at the door.
For more information about the 50-member Manchester Symphony Orchestra,
visit
mso.manchester.edu. Contact the MSO at
mso@manchester.edu or Manchester Symphony Society, P.O. Box 113,
North Manchester, IN, 46962. |
