The Singers
Mallika Bhagwat
Soprano 1
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I’m fortunate to have been born into a very musical family. I grew up in India, to parents who are both trained singers in the Hindustani Classical tradition. My earliest memories involve one or both of my parents singing to me, attending Bansuri concerts with my grandfather or listening as he played to me, or learning to dance (badly) to old Bollywood songs.
After moving to the UK in 2009, I began training in the Western classical tradition, and since then I’ve been lucky to dabble in the vocal worlds of Opera, Pop, Jazz, and of course, continue my Hindustani training. This diverse vocal upbringing is inevitably what led me to my PhD thesis “Demystifying the Voice: Vocal Technique and Female Playback Singers in Bollywood” which examines the singing technique of a ubiquitous and celebrated but egregiously under-researched genre of vocal music in India.
The range of vocal music I love performing is also what led me to my position in The Swingles. I couldn’t have asked for a more dynamic, diverse canon of music to explore than what the Swingles songbook provides, and I’m so excited to be a part of honouring and expanding its legacy.
Outside of singing and crying over my ongoing PhD thesis, I love to cook, travel, and force my friends to go thrift shopping with me!
Sarah Alison
Soprano 2
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I grew up outside of Anchorage, Alaska, and began my musical journey on violin and as a member of the local children’s choir. At 18 I moved to Ellensburg, Washington to double-major in classical trumpet performance and music education at Central Washington University. As a trumpet major, singing in ensembles was a pastime, but never a priority. After taking a chance with an on-campus choir, I became much more involved as a singer, using my trumpet experience to inform my vocal performance. After my time at CWU, I taught high school bands and choirs in beautiful Sitka, Alaska. Teaching in this community that I revered was an absolute dream come true. My students constantly challenged and amazed me, and my musicianship today is centered around the lessons they taught me.
Inspired by the sounds of Alison Balsom, Alison Krauss, Earth Wind & Fire, and JoJo, I wasn’t fully satisfied being a strictly classical musician. I decided to move from Alaska to Spain to pursue a master’s degree in contemporary performance and production through Berklee College of Music’s Valencia campus. Moving away from my classical roots and feeling like a beginner musician was a very humbling but worthwhile challenge. Graduating after a year of study and a year of fellowship, I moved to Edinburgh for a fresh start.
I first heard of The Swingle Singers at CWU, performing Ward Swingle’s arrangement of C.P.E. Bach’s Solfeggieto with the CWU Vocal Jazz 1 group. I was intrigued by the classical/jazz crossover, and I absolutely loved the intricate accuracy and lightness needed to execute the piece. After the last 5 years of writing and producing my own music, performing and teaching locally, and working as a music transcriber and arranger for remote clients, I am thrilled beyond belief to be a Swingle!
Laura Moisey-Gray
Alto
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For me, music has always been the only option. Born into a musical family, I was lucky to be surrounded by different styles of music from the beginning—literally singing before I could talk (cue ABBA)! At four, I accompanied my trumpeter mum to demonstrate bugle playing at summer schools. However at seven, much to her dismay, my class teacher suggested I try violin. This swiftly turned into learning viola, preferring the deeper tone. As a violist, I played with the National Children’s Orchestra and the Buckinghamshire County Youth Orchestra.
Singing was just as present. My first solo was as Gretl in The Sound of Music at Proms in the Park, aged five. Throughout school, I was involved in up to seven ensembles a week—singing, playing viola and French horn. A sixth-form choral scholarship at All Saints Church, Leighton Buzzard, sparked my love for sacred music, and I’ve been hooked on choral singing ever since.
Loving viola, singing and musical theatre, I chose to pursue viola professionally, studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance with internationally renowned violist Rivka Golani. There, I also held a choral scholarship with the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir under Ralph Allwood MBE, performing in evensongs broadcast on BBC radio, and as a soloist in Handel’s Dixit Dominus, among others. I also studied singing with Sara Parry and Linda Hirst (a former Swingle!), and took part in opera scenes.
I threw myself into a wide range of projects—from performing Tchaikovsky 4 at Cadogan Hall with YMSO and leading the viola section with ULSO, to jazz work with NYJO and musical theatre through the London Musical Theatre Orchestra’s development scheme, performing in the WhatsOnStage award winning Love Never Dies in Concert, and Oklahoma at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Since graduating in 2024, highlights include depping for Les Misérables in the West End, forming The Painted Fall (a harp-viola-vocal duo with Imogen Emmett), and exploring playing and singing by myself with my original music—hoping to release my first EP soon. I’m incredibly excited to join this wonderful group of musicians as a Swingle!
James Botcher
Tenor 1
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When I was in primary school my mum asked me, "If there was a choir at your next school would you join it?" My reaction was a definite and disgusted no. Now, almost two decades later, here we are. As a young boy I would sing along to cassette tapes with my mum in the car, and listen to her teaching the piano at home. This led to my decision to have a crack at it myself at the age of five. I didn’t know it at the time but I never fell in love with the instrument - something I only realised when I had my first singing lesson at 17. I left the room beaming, and thought to myself “I didn’t know music lessons were supposed to be fun!” This probably should have dawned on me earlier, having thoroughly enjoyed all the choral singing I had done in my six years at Chigwell School leading up to this pivotal moment, but oh well.
This love of singing took me to the University of York, where I was free to indulge in more practical music than you could wave a stick (baton?) at, and left me almost entirely safe from essays. After finishing my music degree, I stayed on for a further year of postgraduate study on the Solo Voice Ensemble Singing pathway, during which time I was also singing eight services a week as a choral scholar at the York Minster.
After six years of professional classical singing, my career has taken a sudden turn towards contemporary performance. Working across genres in this way is a fascinating experience; I'm really enjoying learning about the similarities and differences in technical approaches, and how these styles feed into each other. I’m metaphorically pulling the blinds up on either side as I go and looking forward to seeing where being in The Swingles takes me – both physically and vocally!
Owen Butcher
Tenor 2
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I grew up in the picturesque county of Suffolk, and first began my musical journey when I started learning the ocarina at the age of 8. Quickly progressing onto the flute and trombone over the next couple of years, I then discovered my love of singing when I joined the Chamber Choir at secondary school. This was completely transformative for me as a shy, awkward teen and quickly became the highlight of my week. My first choir tour to Germany in 2015 and subsequent participation in the National Youth Choir solidified my passion for singing and travel, and so at 18 I left the UK for a year-long residency as the choral scholar at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland (NZ).
Upon my return I studied Music for four years at the University of York, throwing myself into every performing opportunity that I could across a variety of genres. This led me to discover a new passion - Musical Theatre. After performing as part of the ensemble in a uni production of RENT I was completely hooked, and went to star in a collection of other shows including Dogfight, Company, Made In Dagenham and Spring Awakening. The highlight of my time at university, however, was running the brilliant a cappella group Vox. This completely opened my eyes to the incredible diversity and power of vocal music, and also served as my first introduction to The Swingles through a performance of their classic arrangement ‘America’.
Having fully pivoted to a focus on contemporary singing I finished my Vocal Studies MA in 2022, and shortly after marked my Off-West End debut as Alan in the original musical 'Alan Turing - A Musical Biography' at the Kings Head Theatre. I continued to pursue my freelance career over the next couple of years, building up my private teaching business and engaging in a variety of musical theatre and choral work before stumbling across an ad for a tenor vacancy in The Swingles - and the rest is history!
I could not be prouder or more grateful to be part of this extraordinary group!
Jamie Wright
Baritone & Vocal Percussionist
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I grew up in Norfolk and began learning the violin aged six after months of pestering my parents. I sang in school choirs, but my love for vocal music truly began when a music teacher introduced me to The Swingle Singers, The Real Group, and The King's Singers. Shortly after, I declared to my parents, "I want to be a singer!".
I focused mostly on early music while studying music at York, but took every possible performance opportunity, including setting up my own acapella group, Augmented 7. I went on to study Classical Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music, where I later received the honour of being named an Associate (ARAM). I had always loved the choral world, so in the years after my MA I worked as a soloist and ensemble singer, including six years with the Tower of London Chapel Royal Choir and regular session work for film soundtracks and commercial projects.Alongside my singing I became increasingly passionate about conducting and music education, running engagement workshops for The National Youth Choir, The Sixteen, Spitalfields Music, Garsington Opera and Welsh National Opera, as well as conducting community choirs and the London Youth Cambiata (changing voices) Boys Choir. I also worked behind the scenes as an arranger and vocal coach for multiple BBC TV shows.
During the Covid pandemic, I set up the Stay at Home Choir (www.stayathomechoir.com) with Tori Longdon. What began as a lockdown project quickly grew into a global community of over 20,000 singers from more than 70 countries. We've been fortunate enough to work with some incredible musicians over the years and were awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Inspiration Award in 2021.
If you'd told 16-year-old me I'd one day be singing (and vocal percussing) with The Swingles, I wouldn’t have believed it. Performing with the group at the BBC Proms has certainly been one of the greatest highlights so far! I feel enormously lucky to be able to travel the world performing music I love, while surrounded by the extraordinary community of friends and colleagues that comes along with being a Swingle.
Tom Hartley
Bass
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My path to becoming a Swingle was a little different from most. Singing was always a passion, but for years, it was just something I did for fun alongside my career. I originally studied Mechanical Engineering at Cardiff University and spent a few years working in the pharmaceutical industry. Then one day, my partner sent me the audition advert, and said “What’s the worst that could happen?”—and now, here I am!
Growing up on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, music was a constant presence in my childhood, with my parents always playing some kind of music around the house. I loved singing along, which first led me to join the school choir. Over time, that love of singing evolved into a deeper connection with vocal music, and exploring the world of A Cappella.
After years of performing in groups and choirs, I joined The Swingles as their bass in 2022. Since then, I’ve toured across the world, performed in some incredible venues, and met the most amazing people. The role has also opened doors into London’s wider music scene, allowing me to direct choirs, coach singers, and work as a session singer and voiceover artist.
What I love most about music is the collaboration—whether on stage, in the studio, or in a coaching session, there’s nothing better than creating something special with other people. I feel incredibly lucky to do this for a living and can’t wait for whatever comes next!