The Swingle Singers Come to Harris Center Tonight

For more than half a century The Swingle Singers 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. With their forthcoming album Deep End (due early 2015), The Swingles celebrate that legacy by starting a whole new chapter and are eager to share their amazing talents at Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom.

Their repertoire spans classical, jazz, Latin, folk and pop music - and, for the first time in many years, original songs. Theirs is a journey through a multitude of musical styles and atmospheres, with unflagging passion and precision, using the human voice alone. Today's young and gifted Swingle Singers represent the group's evolution from baroque jazz to contemporary a cappella phenomenon. Their vocal agility and blend, combined with captivating showmanship, have thrilled audiences across the globe. The Washington Post praises the group proclaiming that "Whether performing with the National Symphony Orchestra or in a cappella settings, The Swingle Singers were never less than dazzling."

The Swingle Singers perform tonight, February 24, 2015 at 7 pm. Tickets are priced at $19-$29; Premium $39; Students with ID $12. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

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 their repertoire has grown to include a huge variety of music, as well as new original songs. They have released more than 50 recordings, winning five Grammy awards and appearing on numerous film and TV soundtracks including "Sex and the City" and "Glee." Recent releases include 2013's Weather To Fly and a winter EP, Yule Songs.

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, and the group continues to perform his groundbreaking "Sinfonia" around the world, including recent performances at the Royal Festival Hall and La Scala. Other commissions have come from Michael Nyman, John Dankworth and Pascal Zavaro.

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 Art Management. The festival is the first of its kind in the capital, welcoming the finest vocal talent from around the world.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times "The vocal and choral world has changed considerably in the last 50 years... But The Swingles have managed to hold onto to their distinctive niche and continue to thrive."

Folsom High School Jazz Choir is consistently one of the best high school jazz vocal groups in the country and has performed at jazz festivals around the world - Monterey, Umbria, Vienne, North Sea, San Jose, and Reno jazz festivals, to name a few. As a result of winning the Next Generation Monterey Jazz Festival, the group has performed as an artist at the Monterey Jazz Festival the last 16 years in a row. The have also received the DownBeat Magazine Award for Best High School Vocal Group in the country for the last 7 years in a row, and 23 times overall since 1988. The choir performs under the direction of Curtis Gaesser.

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