Grammy® Award-Winning Swingles Sing in the Holidays for IUP Lively Arts Ovations Series
The IUP Lively Arts Ovations series will be presenting the Grammy® Award-winning musical artists The Swingles in “Winter Tales” for one night only on Tuesday, December 10, at 8:00 p.m. The performance will take place on the campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Gorell Recital Hall on the second floor of Sutton Hall.
For more than half a century, The Swingles have pushed the boundaries of vocal music. The seven young singers that make up today’s London-based group are driven by the same innovative spirit that has defined the five-time Grammy® winners since they first made waves in the 1960s. At a time when a cappella music is more popular than ever, The Swingles are recognized as masters of their craft.
In 1963, American-born Ward Swingle first assembled a group of Parisian session singers to sing Bach’s keyboard music. The resulting album, Jazz Sebastian Bach, launched the Swingle Singers to fame. Since then, they have won five Grammy® awards and made more than 50 recordings, with a repertoire that has grown to include a huge variety of music, including pop, jazz, folk, contemporary classical and new original songs. Recent releases include Folklore, inspired by traditional music from around the world; 50th anniversary album Deep End; and holiday collection Yule Songs vol. II.
The Swingles have appeared on numerous film and TV soundtracks, including Sex and the City, Wedding Crashers, Grey’s Anatomy and Glee. In 2017, they co-wrote and performed a song for the end credits of Alexander Payne’s film Downsizing. Their prolific output of music videos has also earned them millions of views online and new audiences around the world.
The group’s versatility has led to collaborations with artists as diverse as the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jamie Cullum and Labrinth. Luciano Berio was one of the first composers to explore the sound of the Swingles’ amplified voices in an orchestral setting with his groundbreaking Sinfonia, first performed in 1968. The group continue to perform the piece to great acclaim around the world, including recent performances at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall with Michael Tilson Thomas, London’s Royal Festival Hall with Vladimir Jurowsky, and Milan’s La Scala with John Axelrod.
In addition to a busy touring schedule that regularly takes them to North and South America, Europe and Asia, The Swingles present their own London A Cappella Festival at Kings Place each January in partnership with Ikon Arts Management. The festival is the first of its kind in the capital, welcoming the finest vocal talent from around the world.
Tickets for this event are available for purchase online through the Lively Arts website www.iup.edu/livelyarts or by calling the ticket hotline at 724-357-1313. They can also be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Ticket Office in Fisher Auditorium. Any seats remaining will be sold at the door starting one hour prior to the performance. Tickets are priced at $22 for regular admission, $18 for seniors/I-Card/Military, and $11 for students and children. Online tickets are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ticket hotline and ticket office in Fisher Auditorium are open from noon to 5:00 p.m., weekdays. The ticket office is closed for University holidays. For more information on this and other events as well as group tickets within the Lively Arts, call (724) 357-2787 (ARTS) or email lively-arts@iup.edu.
The Ovations series is funded, in part, by donations through the Premiere Club, business sponsorships, grants, and the IUP Student Cooperative Association. The Lively Arts, a program of the College of Fine Arts, presents nearly 200 performances, programs, and exhibits annually.
