Ward Swingle

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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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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
  2. ↑ 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
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