Ward Swingle
Ward Lamar Swingle (born September 21, 1927 in Mobile , Alabama - † January 19, 2015 in Eastbourne , East Sussex , England ) was an American pianist, singer, director of the Swingle Singers , arranger and film composer .
Career
Swingle was already interested in jazz music as a teenager and played in regional big bands during his time in high school . He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music , from which he graduated with honors, and then moved to Paris to study piano with Walter Gieseking . Since 1959 he worked on the one hand in Mimi Perrins vocal group Les Double Six and as a background singer in the studio, on the other hand as musical director of the Ballets De Paris . Bored of the studio jobs he was offered as a singer, Ward Swingle teamed up with singers from the Double Six and Blue Stars , founded by Blossom Dearie , to sing his own arrangements of well-known instrumental tracks. The group was named Swingle Singers and was very successful. When the original French line-up disbanded in 1973, Swingle went to England and founded Swingle II , a successor ensemble that initially mainly interpreted English choral music, but also new music . In 1985 Swingle returned to the USA, but continued to act as musical advisor to Swingle II . Until 1994 he taught at North American universities. Occasionally he has also worked as a guest conductor, for example with the Stockholm Chamber Choir , the Dutch Chamber Choir, the Dale Warland Singers, the Motet Choir of the Sydney Philharmonic and the BBC Northern Singers .
In March 1994 he returned to France with his wife. In 2004 he was appointed officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres .
The Ward Swingle Award for a cappella groups, presented since 2000 in Graz at the International A Cappella Competition of the vokal.total festival , was named after Swingle.
In the 1960s, Swingle composed the music for several film productions, including for directors such as Marcel Ophüls , Michel Drach , Bernard Toublanc-Michel and Andrzej Wajda .
Swingle died on January 19, 2015 in Eastbourne, England, at the age of 87.
Filmography (selection)
- 1963: Pepper sweets (Dragées au poivre)
- 1963: Hot plaster (Peau de banane)
- 1964: Virgin richly garnished (Aimez-vous les femmes)
- 1964: Les baisers ( Baiser d'été segment )
- 1965: From now on again precipitation (Faites vos jeux, mesdames)
- 1966: For a handful of diamonds (Safari diamants)
- 1967: The Singapore Trap (Singapore, Singapore)
- 1967: The Adventures of Cardinal Braun (Operazione San Pietro)
- 1968: The Gates of Paradise (Gates to Paradise)
- 1971: Les vieux loups bénissent la mort
Web links
- Web presence
- Ward Swingle in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Obituary in the telegraph
Individual evidence
- ↑ vokal.total 2011 - Europe's top a cappella competition ( Memento from August 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) at vocal-blog.net from May 30, 2011
- ↑ Margalit Fox: Ward Swingle, Jazz Vocalist, Dies at 87. Obituary in The New York Times, January 23, 2015 (English, accessed January 24, 2015)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Swingle, Ward |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Swingle, Ward Lamar (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pianist |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 21, 1927 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Mobile , Alabama , United States |
DATE OF DEATH | 19th January 2015 |
Place of death | Eastbourne , East Sussex , England |