Swingle Singers
Come be captivated by today’s Swingle Singers, a group of seven young and versatile voices who are an international a cappella phenomenon. They continue the tradition of pushing the boundries of what the human voice can achieve as they present classical, represents classical, jazz, Latin, pop and rock. All accompanied by their vocal rhythm section and the stage show which has grown into a full blown lights and choreography spectacle.
The current London based members are: Joanna Goldsmith-Eteson (soprano, UK), Sara Brimer (soprano, US), Clare Wheeler (alto, UK), Oliver Griffiths (tenor, UK), Christopher Jay (tenor, UK), Kevin Fox (baritone, Canada) and Edward Randell (bass, UK).
Their vocal agility and blend, combined with captivating showmanship, have thrilled generations of audiences around the globe. Five decades on from their pioneering, Grammy-winning debut album Jazz Sébastien Bach in 1963, today’s Swingle Singers deliver folk ballads, funk jams and fugues with equal precision and passion.
Formed originally in Paris, France by Ward Single, the group began as session singers mainly doing background vocal for jazz singers. The original session singers sang through a song as a sight reading exercise, finding the music to have a natural rhythm. They recorded Bach and gave it as gifts to friends and relatives. This led to more albums and the group winning a total of five Grammy Awards.
The current London-based line-up of young and talented singers is of course, several incarnations of “Swingles” younger than the original team (Ward affectionately calls refers to them as his ‘grandchildren”). They represent a modern incarnation of an ensemble whose music has evolved and expanded to encompass styles far and beyond the swung Baroque and infamous “ba va ba” of the1960s”, although audiences will usually hear a tribute to the original French group. Along with the repertoire, the stage show has also grown into a full-blown lights-and-choreography spectacle. The beauty is that however the group has changed, the sound remains unmistakably that of the Swingle Singers, the same sound which caught the world’s attention all those years ago.
Since that ground-breaking debut album in 1963, The London-based Swingle Singers have performed on the world’s most famous stages, sustaining over four decades a level of international popularity beyond the dreams of its founder, American-born Ward Swingle. Favorites and curators of the London A Capella Festival, the current Swingle Singers’ music has a trademark sound which has been used frequently on television (Glee, The West Wing, Sex in the City, Miami Vice) and in movies (Milk, Wedding Chasers).
As part of their 50th year celebrations, the Swingles invite you to join them for the next stage of their extraordinary journey.
