Spotlight on Ward Swingle

Abstract

In June, Ward Swingle granted MEJ an interview, upon which this article is based. Born in Mobile, Alabama, Swingle grew up surrounded by the sounds of jazz and big bands. He was educated at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and later studied piano with Walter Gieseking. His Parisian connections led him in the 1960s to found the Swingle Singers, a group of eight professional musicians who developed a unique performance style that blended elements of Baroque and Classical music with jazz and scat singing. When the group disbanded in 1973, Swingle formed a London-based organization, the New Swingle Singers. Although he no longer tours with the group, he currently works with them as music adviser and arranger. The group's repertoire has expanded to include avant-garde works and pieces composed especially for the ensemble. Since 1984, Swingle has made his home in New Jersey, where he has established a publishing company, Swingle Music. His innovative choral techniques have led him to travel extensively while working with such groups as the Stockholm and Netherlands Chamber Choirs, the Sydney Philharmonic Motet Choir, community choirs in Israel, and the BBC Northern Singers in Manchester, England.