Ward Swingle dies (age 87)—Another significant passing in the choral world

Another significant passing from our choral world—Ward Swingle, who helped create and maintain a new melding of classical music and jazz.

You can read more about his life in the brief Wikipedia article linked above (which comes primarily from his website).

Ward was an amazing musician, pianist, and singer whose Swingle Singers, currently called The Swingles, went through numerous versions from their founding in Paris, then a number of versions in London, both with Ward and post-Ward.

Besides their jazz, they became known in the orchestral world for Luciano Berio's Sinfonia in a part that was sung by them around the world.

The Swingle Singers will be singing at TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) on Feb. 11. If you haven't heard them before, might be a good time to go (and TMEA is always fabulous!).