Albert George Swanson
September 15, 1948 - July 24, 2012
Obituary
Albert George Swanson
Albert George Swanson – audio engineer, musician, essayist, philosopher, photographer, crossword puzzle creator, and adored husband, father, and friend – died July 24 after battling an overwhelming blood infection. He was diagnosed in 2010 with a rare autoimmune disease, Wegener’s granulomatosis, and had been on immunosuppressants from that time.
Al was born Sept. 15, 1948, to Albert George Swanson and Aris Shankle Swanson in Tacoma, where he grew up. He attended Mount Tahoma High School and the University of Washington, playing trombone in the Seattle Youth Symphony and in the Husky Marching Band. While studying music and psychology as an undergraduate and ethnomusicology as a graduate student at the UW, he began recording music, which became his profession after college. Al went on to produce recordings for dozens of musical groups throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond for more than four decades.
He served as the Seattle Symphony’s audio recording engineer from 1983 through 2006, recording the Symphony’s live performances and editing them for radio broadcast on Classical KING FM 98.1. As the Symphony’s audio engineer, Al participated in the majority of the Seattle Symphony’s prodigious discography of more than 140 recordings – some 50 of which were reissued this year -including the 12 that received Grammy nominations, working with labels Delos, Naxos, JVC, MMC, and Reference Recordings, among many others. Al served as principal recording engineer on numerous Seattle Symphony albums, including the works of American composers Alan Hovhaness and William Schuman.
Al’s projects ranged from orchestras, soloists and choruses to rap videos and bagpipe bands. Al regularly recorded ensembles such as the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, Music of Remembrance, Husky Marching Band, Seattle Youth Symphony, Seattle Choral Company, Seattle Peace Chorus, the Esoterics, and Seattle Girls’ Choir, and he spent 25 years as the choir director at Zion American Lutheran Church in Wallingford. He was instrumental in the development of the Seattle film-score recording scene in the 1990s, serving as chief technical consultant (look for Al’s name in the closing credits of “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus”). In 1995, Al recorded the ballet score of “Swan Lake” in Saint Petersburg, Russia, for the Houston Ballet, and in 1996 he recorded organist Carole Terry on the legendary Ladegast Organ in Schwerin, Germany. Of Al’s 2009 recording of the Icicle Creek Trio, Jerry Dubins of Fanfare magazine wrote: “The results are astonishing. … Without a doubt, this recording captures the stage in one of the most transparent, lifelike sonic images I’ve yet to hear. It’s as if the musicians, having been teleported from the recording session, simply materialize in my living room.”
In 1977, Al was one of the founding committee members of the Audio Engineering Society’s Pacific Northwest section. He continued as a committee member through 1981, and served another term on the committee in 1990. Al was elected chair of the Pacific Northwest section in 1992, and vice-chair in 1991 and 1993.
Al was a man of his mind, and his gift for wit and irony lives on in writings and essays on all subjects. At any given time he was likely to be speaking, reading or writing about topics such as corvid intelligence, quantum physics, the artistry of Carl Barks, temperate rain forests, the psychology of music, home construction, international linguistics, photographic techniques, volcanology, and the health industry. He loved baseball, and in season he could typically be found in his favorite easy chair with the Mariners on television, one or more cats on his lap, and his composition book in his hands.
After his diagnosis of Wegener’s granulomatosis in 2010, Al became a self-taught expert on the condition. He was active on forums and blogs dedicated to Wegener’s for the rest of his life, dispensing wisdom and serving as a resource for those suffering from the rare disease.
Survivors include wife Eileen; daughter Amy King and husband Geoffrey of Seattle; son Stephen and wife Jeanne of Spokane; sister Pat Kaer and husband Bjarne of Goodyear, Ariz.; numerous nieces and nephews; and his first grandchild, due in October. The family’s thanks go out to the staff at the Swedish Medical Center ICU and to Dr. Robert Winrow for taking such good care of Al.
Memorials may be made to the Vasculitis Foundation at www.vasculitisfoundation.org.
Dear Eileen and Family,
Ron and I are so saddened to see this news; we remember Al with affection and admiration for his many talents.
Sincerely,
Ron and Carol Simon
Dear Eileen,
My sincerest condolences to you and your family. I am shocked and saddened to read of Al’s death in today’s paper.
May memories of happier times bring you comfort. Al was such a talented and sweet renaissance man. The Seattle music world will surely miss Al as will many of us “on the periphery.” Arlene
Ooops! My finger hit the wrong key in my original message. My familyu name is Ehrlich. I tried to correct it, but this is the only way I can do that. Sorry. Arlene
Eileen,
I was so very saddened to see this news in today’s paper. My condolences to you and your family. I know how much Al will be missed.
Marcia
My sincerest condolences to you and your family. Thank you for posting the beautiful photo and the obituary–What an amazing life.
Linda
Dear Eileen and Family,
Our hearts are with you. Fond memories of earlier times, and admiration for all that you have created. . . So many have benefited. God bless you. . . Will see you soon.
Mary & Bruce Fierke
Al was a quiet guy but underneath his calm demeanor was a brain bursting with ideas and a passion for so many things. He really was the Renaissance man.
We promise to honor his memory by being there for you.
MY SON SAW MR. SWANSON’S OBIT IN THE PAPER AND NOTICED HE HAD WEGENER’S. I TOO HAVE WEGENER’S SINCE 1996 SO I AM SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT HIS SEARCH FOR ALL THE RESOURCES ON THIS ILLNESS, I’M SURE HE HELPED MANY. HE LEAVES A GREAT AID FOR MORE THAN YOU MANY NEVER KNOW.
Friday lunch will never be the same. Audios, Al.
Eileen,
My prayers are with you and the family. Al was such a quiet and generous supporter of Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus over the years. I depended on his brilliant ear and kind feedback. He will be sorely missed. I expect he’s already recorded a number of Heaven’s choirs.
Eileen and all the family,
My father and I are saddened and send our condolences to you. It has been a long journey, where we have shared many wonderful times and some rough moments. Many, many memories, Please know that our prayers are offered to and for you. And do know that a prayer for Al was given during the Compline service on Sunday, July 29th (it was not broadcast).
I treasured my friendship with Al during our undergraduate days at the UW. He and Al Dorsey were my buddies in sight-singing class and I loved hanging out with the “Two Al’s” discussing everything from Mahler symphonies to the trombone music of Arthur Pryor. Al Swanson was a gem. He was smart, funny, talented and he knew when he met Eileen that he was one of the luckiest guys in the world. We will all miss him.
Dear Eileen, Amy and Stephen:
Over the years we have been able to see Al as your loving husband and loving and wise father. This written tribute is a wonderful description of his accomplishments and the most important one was his place in your family and his part in creating 2 amazing young adults.
Lots of love, Andrea and Robert
Heart felt condolences from another member of the best trombone section Mt. Tahoma HS ever had. Nancy and I traveled to many band events in Al’s car. We were part of the same group and I’ve thought of him often.
Paul Berry, MT ’65
Nancy Hiscox Berry, MT ’66
Eileen and family,
I am one of the people that Al interacted with and shared his incredible wisdom with on a Wegener’s forum. The news was so shocking and we are still adjusting to it.
We will miss Al for his knowledge, his wit and his keen sense of humor that kept us all moving forward. He loved you and his family so and looked forward to the birth of his grandchild. I know that this grandchild will have many stories so they will know a sense of Al.
I wish we could wrap our collective arms around you and help you to find peace and comfort as Al did for so many.
Namaste,
Lightwarrior
I never met Al though I feel I knew him well. I certainly considered him a dear friend. My very active and energetic wife Marta has Wegener’s Granulomatosis and both she and I had many correspondence with Al. His wisdom, advice and caring will forever be remembered and treasured. My deepest sympathy goes out to his family and close friends and know that he helped so many also suffering from Wegeners.
Brian Rode, Jasper National Park, Canada.
Dear Eileen…
Wishing you comfort in knowing Al’s life was one that enabled others to share their music more broadly, and keep it forever, and thus to enrich the lives of countless people. He will be sorely missed.
Bob Ness
I did not know Al, but I’m one of many who received inspiration, education, or a laugh from his wonderful posts on a Wegener’s listserv. I write so you know that he has touched more lives that you will ever know and that his legacy lives on in so many ways, in so many people, known and unknown. What an amazing spirit.
I had only come to know Al recently. In the time I spent with him I witnessed a graceful, gentle, and wise spirit. I have and will continue to hold him as an example of how to live the good life. My thoughts go out to Al’s family, friends, and all of the others whose lives he touched.
Speaking as one of the many Wegener’s sufferers whom Al helped on numerous occassions with his freely shared expertise, I offer me sincerest condolences to his family; you have lost a good man and we in the Wegeners family have lost a true and loyal brother. His reach was quite literally worldwide and his loss is felt thus far.
Eileen, my deepest condolences for the loss of your amazing husband. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing him so freely with the rest of the world. He has touched so many of us with his wisdom, kindness, sagely knowledge, compassion, humour and love. The last email I have from him is one trying to lift my spirits up when I was having a hard time with some Wegener’s related stuff, and he sent me two wonderful songs that he was involved with producing that made my spirit soar. He was a gift to us all, and the gift he has given us will make him live much longer as we try to emulate the person/spirit that he was. I often think of how Al would react to certain situations and in that way he lives on in my heart, and many others. God speed and see you on the other side Al.
Dear Eileen and Family.
My sincere condolences on the loss of such a fine man. I am a member of the Wegener,s online group on which Al was an extremely valuable contributer and helped so many other Wegs sufferers with his expert and sympathetic advice and help. He will be sorely missed.
Widthofacircle
Eileen, my deepest sympathies in the loss of your husband. Although I did not know him personally, I know that he has been involved with many of the recordings of the St. James Cathedral choirs and concerts. His talent has been a real gift to all of us who sing at St. James. My prayers are with you and your family.
I don’t remember when I first met Al but it had to be close to 30 years ago. I also don’t remember why but it was certainly related to audio since I am an engineer/producer and recording artist.
Back in the early 1980s, recorded music was making the transition from analog to digital and Al was the go to guy in Seattle for digital. Our first project together was likely creating the CD master for the Natural States album, my first collaboration with David Lanz.
He contributed to many more records over the years and we also tapped Al to engineer orchestra sessions for several albums.
One of those, David Lanz’ number one hit “Cristofori’s Dream”, hit the 500,000 sales mark in the early 1990s and was Al’s first and perhaps only gold record.
I considered Al a great friend and a mentor as I learned so much from him. I always enjoyed his dry wit as well, especially when he would grace us with one of his many unique quotes or observations about the world. One of my favorites is “The customer is always the customer” and one I still say to myself when dealing with a particulary difficult client.
Needless to say, Al’s passing has left a large void in my life and I feel great sadness. However, I also feel tremendous gratitude and happiness that he will always will be a part of who I am.
Here’s to a great human being who will be missed by all whose live’s were touched by him.
Dear Eileen and family,
I had the great fortune to work with Al on several CDs of my music. He was an incredible engineer with a great set of ears..
but more than that, he was such a kind and interesting human being. It was always an adventure to work with him and I will miss him. Wishing you all strength!
Dear Eileen and Family,
All the members of the Seattle Choral Company were devasted to learn of Al’s passing. He was a close member of our performing family for several decades, and it will be hard to adjust to making live music without his quiet humor, and incredible ear. He made it possible for us to extend the reach of our music making and to enrich the lives of family and supporters all over the world. We share your grief at this time and mourn the loss of great friend and advocate.
I am so very sorry to hear that Al has passed on…. so young. It was a pleasure to work and be around Al, always a learning experience. We worked together when the Symphony was at Seattle Center.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, may he rest in peace, Jim Markovich
Some 24 years ago Al recorded and produced a cassette tape for our women’s choir Vecherinka, one of those dozens of local music groups he worked with. I vividly recall his professionalism, patient instruction (this was the first serious recording for many of us), amazing ear and good humor, all delivered in a low-key manner which soothed our jumpy nerves away.
Best of all, Al understood the ethnic sound we were after, and brought it out beautifully. We made him an honorary (and only male) member of “the Vech.” Al was truly a treasure.
Farewell, Guy Vech, and flights of Balkan angels sing thee to thy rest.
Dear Eileen,
Joy and I were so saddened just now to hear the news of Al’s passing. Our hearts go out to you, and to Amy and Stephen. I was just thinking the other day about our wonderful dinner together last summer at that restaurant near University Village. You both brought us up to date on a mere 25 years of history ! So “thank you” for that, and for everything you have done for Seattle musicians. Now, knowing Al, he’s probably already recording magical sounds in the land of astrophysics !!! You will hear them !
From our undergrad time at the U. and our work with Seattle Girls Choir, Al was a given. There may have been a variety of challenges to solve with musicians, acoustics, and musical vicissitudes…but Al was always above it and had usually formulated solutions and implemented them before others were aware. God bless you Eileen and family.
Stu
Dear Eileen and Family,
I’ve not seen you since I left Seattle in 1975, but Ingrid has often mentioned you. Wish we hadn’t ended up so far apart! This is sad news, and I send all of you my love. I’m glad you were able to spend as much time with Al as you did.
I’ll play some music here in Maine in Al’s honor.
Dear Eileen and family,
I was sad to hear of Al’s passing. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. I remember meeting Al through my great aunt Eva Heinitz, where he was involved in making her recordings. He was so very patient with her and I so admired that. I was very surprised years after her passing to meet Al in the Meany parking garage and learn that he had just recorded the Seattle women’s chorus concert I had just sung in. A place Eva had often performed in. He will be missed and his work will live on forever.
Eileen..I want to tell you and your family what a great man your husband and father was to all of us you suffer from the same disease. His knowledge and compassion seemed to make the worst days better. He will be sadly missed by all of us on the forum and it will not be the same without his words of wisdom. May God be with you in your time of sorrow and know that Al is in heaven teaching the angels new music.
My sympathy to Al’s family and friends. As Production Director at KING FM I often am using one of Al’s magnificent recordings for our programs. I hope that is a bit of comfort to know that Al’s recorded legacy lives on and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Kindest regards,
Mike Brooks
Dear Eileen and Family,
I am stunned and heartbroken over your loss; no… the world’s loss. Al was my friend, colleague, philosopher-on-call, and co-conspirator for nearly 40 years.
I’m confident that he’s found a niche in Heaven, be it teaching new music, or being a resident philosopher. I’m not so sure about recording; perhaps recording isn’t needed since things just live on.
May God be with you in this time of transition and change. He was a very unique and special man. Friday lunch will never be the same.
Audio!
You always had a smile and witty comment for me Al, and I will miss that most of all. My heartfelt sympathies go out to Eileen and family.
We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
I am so sorry to hear of Al’s passing. I am also a Weggie and gleaned so much from Al’s thoughtful, information-rich posts on the Wegener’s forum. His humor was delightful and he seemed to be a genuinely good person.
My prayers and thoughts are with the family.
Oh Al! Our lives threaded together over the years, first playing in the Seattle Youth Symphony together, and then recording students for 30 years. Your quiet presence wherever I found you, as well as your recording talent, were always appreciated. Your life made a difference to me as well as to so many others. I know your spirit lives on through the lineage of your family and your accomplishments. A profound Thank You and Farewell.
Dear Eileen, Amy and Stephen,
Just spoke with Jim Savage and was so saddened to hear of Al’s passing — I’d actually spoken about Al and his mobile recording setup c. 1988 with an engineer who was recording a concert here yesterday. I loved Al’s inner warmth and outer crust and will continue to remember him with great fondness. Keeping all of you in my thoughts.
A year and a half after Al’s passing, I came across this online memorial. I was surprised and saddened, but I want to say that am so grateful to have known Al Swanson.
Al was a true friend to many people, including me. He was always available to lend a sympathetic ear and a helping hand. He was fun to be with, abounding in humor. I could not begin to tell you how kind he was to me, but you probably know something of that yourselves.
Both Al and his dear wife came unselfishly to my aid many times during those youthful years we knew each other. Their relationship with each other was very close, and their lives were busy, yet they graciously found time to included friends like me in their life and activities.
Although we may not always be aware of it, God lovingly orchestrates the details of our lives, including the friends He gives us. I thank him for putting Al and Eileen in my life, and also certain other dear people whose names appear in the responses to this memorial.
May His grace carry you, Eileen.! And blessings to you all!
The other Al