The Choir: BBC2
London Symphony Orchestra choirmaster Gareth Malone is a man on a mission. He wants to uncover raw singing talent in a typical comprehensive and, in just nine months, create a school choir that is good enough to compete in The World Choir Games in China.
Step forward Northolt High School in Middlesex. It has no tradition of classical music, no formal choir and the kids have grown up listening to R&B and rap – worlds apart from Gareth’s classical upbringing.
If Gareth can succeed in building a choir here, then he can show the world why choral music needs to be reinstated in schools. If he fails, his reputation will be in tatters.
The auditions soon make it clear to him the immense task ahead. After 45 renditions of Mariah Carey’s Hero, Gareth begins to lose heart. However, despite all odds, some real talent begins to emerge, and he finally finds his shortlist of 30 and forms The Phoenix Choir.
Some of the children immediately stand out. Brother and sister Melody and Enoch Chege – both originally from Kenya – are natural singers and desperately want to make their family proud. But not all have their levels of commitment. Fifteen-year-old Chloe Sullivan is a fantastic singer and Gareth has faith in her abilities, but headmaster Chris Modi has his doubts, warning Gareth of her questionable attitude and lack of commitment.
As reality bites the kids become less enthusiastic. Some, especially Chloe, miss rehearsals, and Gareth feels he is torturing them with classical music. As the winter drags on and deadlines approach, Gareth has to increase their confidence. Can he get the fledgling choir to the standard required to record that all important entry to The World Choir Games?
Read Gareths Interview here.
THE CHOIR AIRS TONIGHT (4TH DECEMBER) ON BBC2 AT 9PM
Chat about this on the Unreality TV Forum »
December 5th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Tabby I really like this article, and I also watched the programme. The programme I thought was excellent.
The project I find motivational and inspirational, even in its first showing you could hear immprovement from that which was raw and untapped change into something different. I hope Mr Malone succeeds in his efforts to create a choir from a school which does not have music on its curriculum.
I hope he proves that music should be on the curriculum and made readily available to all who desire to study it. After all, how else can you expect to get the next generation of artists to come through if music is not available at a primary source of education.
Maybe, the population of Britain needs to be aware that if there child opts to study music below the age of 18, and remain at school to do it, they are entitled to do so whilst education in this age group is free.
A great programme.
Well worth watching.
Three cheers to the BBC.
MAUREEN
NEWCASTLE
December 11th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
I am so impressed with Gareth’s efforts and was (almost) happy to see a lack of ‘let’s be inclusive regardless of talent’ attitude. Gareth bravely reminded the students that this was a competition and in real life we don’t all win prizes without hard work. Like Gareth, I find it unbelievable that secondary schools no longer have choirs. In fact, my duaghter’s school -in the same borough as Northolt High-has had no choir for the last four years, much to our disappointment.
I wonder if Gareth fancies touting for recruits in Drayton Manor. I think he’d find considerably more singers willing to audition.
Well done, Gareth!
December 11th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
As a professional musician with 25 years’ teaching experience at many levels I have found the programme increasingly disturbing. While one realises that programmes of this nature are edited ruthlessly and do not tell the whole story, and while one can’t be sure whether it was all Malone’s idea or the BBC’s, on the face of it nobody asked him to weigh in with his scheme and then proceed to berate these children for not being good enough. Not once have we yet seen him actually teaching them anything; indeed, all the evidence suggests that they are being required to learn the music by rote. Malone’s lack of sensitivity to the children as individuals and his inexperience in pastoral and psychological matters is painfully evident at every turn -even in the body language (last week he confronted a child while leaning his outstretched arm against a wall, barring their retreat). The announcement about the second audition was handled with appalling clumsiness and there would seem to be no way in which the BBC could have manufactured the tearful distress of one devastated 12-year-old who had given his best and quite possibly been marked for life by the rejection he then faced. If qualified teachers behaved in this fashion they would be sacked; however, it seems to be all right for aspiring conductors to breeze in and flout every normal rule in the book. If only this process had been the brainchild of some real choir trainer like John Rutter or David Hill. No doubt many viewers will be taken in, and no doubt the programme is on because the choir will indeed triumph against the odds; but the richness of the experience might have been considerably greater in surer hands than Malone’s, and personally I think he has a great deal more to answer for (in terms of the psychological damage he may well have done to several children as individuals) than credit to take for carrying the group with him through what appears to be a singularly ill-planned and ill-executed scheme. The children deserved far better from a professional musician (even his conducting is highly suspect).
December 11th, 2006 at 11:41 pm
I usually avoid reality programmes but this is amazing stuff. I am breathing every breath and note for these youngsters,willing them on. In a world where mediocrity rules it is people like Gareth who can show the way. Life is about competition members go forward in their lives, richer and more fulfilled for having taken part.
December 12th, 2006 at 4:57 am
Hello Francis Pott, are you saying you believe that Gareth Malone is not a real choir master? Surely, someone who has had the experience of conducting the London Symphony Orchestra Choir is a real choir master.
I have had experiences of two choir masters who I’d describe as being of similar standing with a similar manner and style to Mr Malone.
One which was my first school choir and the second a church choir. Rote singing is the norm in these circumstances as you normally have deadlines to meet possibly one week later.
Of the professional choir work I have done sight reading has been the means to practice and perfection. In the same way an orchestra works, sight reading and group practice leading to the perfect performance.
Within the BBC parameters that they have suggested and funded this programme, it is obvious to me that if you have no musical practice or studies in a school for the provision of music in the curriculum – that rote learning would be the only route. Have you realised also that we now live in an age where music has gradually been withdrawn as a viable subject from many schools. It has also had less funding in the adult education sector of late and that reality TV is offered as a viable route to musical success.
Government art’s funding bodies are always looking to increase there budget for community based projects as the resulting action of removing or reducing musical education from modern colleges for adults has produced a backlash.
In relation to psychological damage believe me more teachers have damaged the future prospects of the children in there care than any music conductor.
As a token of respect to rote learning there is an organisation in Britain which encourages young adults and adults to take up singing. They specialise in songs and group numbers from old and new musicals of the Westend stage and Broadway, they are known as SINGLIVE. These people who join may or may not have any musical ability whatsoever and each week of choir practice is done via rote learning and the backing disc. After several weeks around 13 they then do a large scale concert with full orchestra twice or thrice yearly. This organisation is very successful and the concerts are very good, some so good they are professional.
Having people shout and scream at you, I have taken all my life as the norm especially where you have large groups of people how else is, a choir master, a school teacher,and orchestral conductor to be heard. It is the norm and yes it is upsetting – it can reduce you to tears or silence. I watched the great Leonard Bernstein in rehearsals with Kiri and Placido Domingo, for West Side Story, anger and harsh words can upset the very best.
MAUREEN
NEWCASTLE
December 12th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Both Maureen from Newcastle and Fracis Pott have valid comments on BBC2’s The Choir but,rather than continuing one or other’s critique, I would like to point out that the most despairing aspect that the programme has flagged up is the appalling lack of choral music in the school. Modernist music teachers will argue that pupils only want to play bass guitar and drum kit and view those of us alrady in our ascendency with disdain or as ’twere something reminiscent of a fossil becuase we don’t. I have argued for years now that choral music – undertaken as a class activity and not exclusively as part of extra curricular activities, creates and nurtures musicians in a most positive way. As a teacher in a large comprehensive secondary school in the East End of Glasgow, I have seen, year on year, pupils responding to music from Plainsong to Pop by adopting this approach. These same pupils are bass guitarists, drummers, bassoonists, pianists et al,but are required to sing in the Chamber Choir each week and from this, gain a much more holistic musical training which in turn accelerates progress in all other areas. What is sad, to my mind about the school featured on this programme, is the apparent lack of any musical profile and as such, if pupils’ involvement in The Choir with Gareth Malone gives them both some (limited) exposure to musical/choral technique and enrichment, then it will have served a great purpose. It’s only a pity that he did not look to Glasgow for his choir – he’d have found a ready made one with a suberb repertoire of music from children with an identical profile to the ones that he is working with for this programme. Finally, musicians, don’t be overtly critical of someone who is making a difference – that, as teachers, is what we are meant to be about.
December 13th, 2006 at 12:50 am
I think Maureen is rather missing my point. I have children in the state system myself and I’m well aware what there is and isn’t on offer. (I am also Head of Composition at one of the post-1992 universities and I am only too conscious of the dumbing-down which is emerging at university level through the culture of infinite choice at GCSE which is eroding essential skills. At university level we pick up the tab bigtime for this, with remedial foundation years springing up all over the place as people reach HE level and then find they can no longer avoid all the things they have dodged so far. The pastoral problems which this brings are every bit as great at that age as earlier on.) I did not say that Malone is not a real choir master, but my impression is that his own principal activity is a solo singing career -and that he seems to wonder none too graciously why on earth these kids at Northolt can’t do what he can do with his own (admittedly good)voice. He is in a fairly ancillary and minor role as far as the LSO is concerned. I have no problem with somebody bringing music into a place like Northolt School, but the way in which it appears to have been done continues to worry me. Des (above) is assuming that these pupils were taught to read the music, but the fact that the children were holding scores does not necessarily mean that they were adequately schooled in how to make use of them. We have seen nothing to tell us how Malone worked with the children’s voices on a technical level, nor anything that indicates whether his sometimes insensitively negative reactions to their efforts are mitigated by methodical and patient earlier input of his own. I did concede that this might have been edited out, but I’d be surprised if he hadn’t been given some say in that process. I rest my case.
December 13th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
I am so glad that someone brought up the point of how insensitive that second audition process was. Does M. Malone think that any of the rejected students (incidentally, they all sang on the audition CD for the olympics, didn’t they?) will ever want to try anything like that ever again… I think not.
December 13th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Hello Franics and Des,
I’m sorry if you felt that my commentary above was negative of teachers as opposed to standards or teaching styles.
I do understand where you are both coming from. The University I went to had many options available for students who were what shall we say not of the standard required on the basis of GCSE results and A levels, also not wishing to mislead anyone but the relaxing of rules for mature students leads to an increase in tutorials for those who may or may not have been involved in education for some time. Higher education or foundation course being used to fill the gaps.
On the subject of the conflict of interests between Mr Malones personal singing career and that of his choral leanings, from my experience the majority of classical singers based in a region would earn a living from an alternative source. Teaching is the most common and their is a very small salary from choral conducting in say local musical/ dramatic societies or small choirs. As far as “making it” is concerned, this is not a priority for classical singers at all. As a classical singer, I have a great love for the art of singing and the joy it brings.
The world of commercial music is not all it is cranked up to be either, for every thousand people who study music and have reached a certain standard only one or two will ever work on it in a commercial fashion. For a few more being professional means earning pocket money at local level performing in front of regional choirs. Those who do become commercial entities are immediately stabbed in the back and told they aren’t real. Personal jealousies circumstances and frustrations causing the envy. I refer here to Anna Naplova’s recent comments on Katherine Jenkins 23, “Nice Boobs”, and “She’s not really classical or operatic, she’s crossover”. 35 year old Anna’s own heritage is from a Continent with the income scales and values of a third world country.
On the subject of music tuition it would be nice for the viewer to be shown an instructional lesson being given to the members of this impromtu choir. For the sake of clarity so that the viewer can really see how far these pupils have come. I am also concerned though about the aftermath. Will this local authority spend money on placing a music tutor in school?
My own personal music tuition was very thorough and grounded whilst at college and afterwards with private study, in fact going back all those years the old O level in music had a title ‘The History and Appreciation of Music.’What is truly amazing is that once you have caught the bug for classical music it never ends and there is something new to learn every day.
I’d love to be sitting listening to the Glasgow school choir Des speaks of. It sounds great.
Maybe we need an events board.
MAUREEN
NEWCASTLE
December 14th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Having taken more time to cogitate on all that has been said above, I would like to reiterate my own views on what I feel to be the problem with this programme. It reveals a school where, in the words of the Head Teacher, music has no profile. This to my mind is nothing short of a travesty – Clearly, the Head has little or no understanding of the power that music can have on other cognitive processes and as a consequence the effect that it has on academic success. I would also go as far as to suggest that the Head of Music is partly culpable in this respect too since it his or her vision that determines the ethos and climate of the teaching and learning within the music department and ultimately its effect on the whole school. It is easy to have a ’singing classroom’ approach if the Head of Dept both understands the need for and the necessary skills to deliver same. Only this week, our chamber choir – rehearsed during 1 period per week within the curriculum – performed in one of the local university’s Christmas Concert and ably gave an excellent performance of Scarlatti’s Exultate Deo, Tavener’s The Lamb, Jesu Child by Rutter and Little Jack Horner by Diack. Maintaining a full SATB choir is eminently possible and, as our school covers what is referred to as Europe’s most deprived area, remarkable in that our pupils come to this kind of music with absolutely no prior cultural or aesthetic awareness. What the is the secret – Vision, belief in the power of music, committed staff who share and deliver my vision,100% support from our Headteacher who not only expects the best from staff and pupils alike, but resources and supports the work of the department which enables the kind of success we enjoy. Incidently, our chamber choir is only one of many bands and groups operating within the department – in an ethos of genuine love of making music but with the caveat that no matter what the genre, style or piece of music, it is performed with due respect for the composer’s intentions and with attention to those same details that all musicicans attend to. In summation, I think what Gareth Malone is attempting is great but also believe the school and music department have short-changed its pupils since he should have been able to walk in there and, with some possible minor adjustments etc, gathered sufficient personnel to create a fully operational SATB choir and take them to a different level through his expertise and experince of working with choirs as a quasi specialist. I would love to hear your views on this!
December 15th, 2006 at 7:37 am
Gareth Malone is obviously having to sacrifice some of his own training ability to attempt to achieve a fast result.It is very similar to a reality TV talent show the vocal journey is compromised.
In the case of the choir the vocal journey is comprimised aswell as the instructional basis of the music.You would be right to assume that these pupils will have no appreciation for the music they have been given to do.
There is of course a great deal of excitement connected uo with the adventure of going to China and what will happen whilst there. This could be the stick that breaks the camels back or not.
I suppose if the programme shows that it can be done, maybe then the teaching staff and the headmaster will realise that music could become an essential part of the school curriculum, an extra part of the schools function in the neighbourhood and to reinforce those pupils who lack the confidence to do well.
I do believe that these pupils are being short changed via this route, but against the negativity of that thought is the ground breaking end result which may place music high on the school and regional authority agenda.
The trial run could be worth it.
I like the sound of your concert Des, excellent keep up your dedicated work.
Maureen
Newcastle
December 15th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
Hi
Im actually from the choir, and a lot of the stuff that twenty twenty television are putting on is just to promote our school as bad with underacheiving children. Some of which may be true, but were not all disruptive adolescents and i personally was brought up with classical music and am offended at the way they are trying to promote the program. The choir wasnt all bad, we had our good times when we really sang well but the positives are not being shown to its full potential and they are focusing far too much on certain members of the choir, when they should show each individual fairly. Personally i feel that this program should have been about the singing aspect of the choir and not about all the misfits.
December 15th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
Great to hear from you anonymous. The programme has obviously been highly edited to remove bits that the BBC felt were not conducive to drawing the viewers to watch. In other words all we the viewer gets to see are the bad bits as reality TV does concentrate on the thrill of the spectacle rather than the achievement.
Maybe, if a vast number of viewers complained than they’d show a fairer view of the choir members through most the stages of the vocal learning curve. That is if there was one?
Did you feel there was a music learning curve?
Would you and your fellow choir members like to see more music lessons in your school with a choir insitu?
On a whole would you say you enjoyed the experience of singing in the choir and for all its faults you would do it again?
How do you think the choir members felt about Gareth?
Keep in touch, you don’t have to answer any questions at all. It was lovely to read from a member. I hope you were one of those who had the pleasure of enjoying the trip to China.
MAUREEN
NEWCASTLE
December 16th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
“The announcement about the second audition was handled with appalling clumsiness and there would seem to be no way in which the BBC could have manufactured the tearful distress of one devastated 12-year-old who had given his best and quite possibly been marked for life by the rejection he then faced.” Francis Pott on 11th December 2006
Would like to comment on this as I am Joe’s mum. Joe was actually 11 at the time, (they got that wrong!)
You are correct Joes tears were not manufactured, but just to let you know that
Joe is fine, he sings all of the time and drives his brothers mad! He has recently joined the school choir which is held after school. The song that he sang was one that the choir had been singing but it meant even more to Joe as it was played at his Nans funeral the year before. He had to sing something that they had been practicing and he chose this. Yes, he was upset about no longer being in the choir and not going to China. But we did know from the start that there were no guarantees and that there would be a need to shrink the choir. They did handle it well(which was not shown) Joe was able to go and speak with the support staff, and the production team rang to let me know that both Joe and his brother had not got through.
They both had a wonderful experience and learnt a lot from Gareth. (how many 11 and 13 year olds have recorded a cd?) We have got the cd and I still play it!
They have got a programme to make and we have all been enjoying it, I was informed about the clip of Joe which was to be used and it made me cry, but please rest assured that Joe is doing great and would do it again if he had the chance(”,)
December 18th, 2006 at 11:47 am
hi, i am a member of cantamus, we won in china and achieved highest marks in the whole competition, i think what these children at northolt have done is truly inspiring to othe rchildren but the bbc have portrayed teh wrong impression, im sure most northolt students are wondering were mr malone has disapered to, as a choir olympic champion i belive the bbc programme of the choir was merely a way to get publicity for himslef,mr malone, and all it has done is embarras the students.
regards, sally
December 18th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
can you download the choir’s songs from anywhere?
December 18th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
i find it really annoying that in these days of technology the BBC do not offer The Choir available to watch like tonights one where they go to china that i unfortunatly missed. no repeats either which is unusual for the BBC
December 18th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
i meant to watch online the missed episodes!
December 18th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
I have just watched the last episode of The Choir and was really touched.
Gareth you are an inspiration to those school kids.
What you have done is amazing – they really respect you.
Listening to them singing was great – to go from nothing to how they sang you must be so proud !
I suggest that your next “missionâ€? is to visit a local business and audition them and let them be the next Choir. What do you think ? Gareth, I happen to know the perfect place – where I work !!!! People are singing everyday !!!! Let me know what you think !
Mark
December 18th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
I liked the fact that this project apparently opened up a whole new world to the young people involved, of discovering classical music, of collaborative work, of building self-esteem and being believed in, and of having to work hard to achieve a goal. But the joy of singing together should be part of all schools’ curriculum and not something that requires auditions and a possibility of feeling a failure. Everyone can sing.
There were times when I felt that the choir master was very hard on them, but, given the context of the project, his approach worked because this was balanced by his very close personal relationships with each choir member, his total commitment and belief in the project and the bonding activities he set up for them.
It brings up some issues –
All schools should be doing this sort of music as part of their curriculum, and inspiring children in this way. But without funding from a BBC project, maybe this isn’t possible.
Having done this project and inspired the participants, what is going to happen to them now? This is a one-off event with specified funding. How can it be sustainable? It is unfair to leave the participants with nowhere to go from here after such an achievement. What is going to be set up for them to continue with their singing? How can the children who were rejected from the project ever be able to feel that they can be singers and enjoy the experience?
December 18th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
I think some people are being a little naive. Even though it’s on BBC2, it is still reality TV. It is in the very nature of the genre that shows will be ruthlessly edited in order to create a narrative – and most narratives are the obvious transition from failure to success. It’s patently simple why the film would choose not to focus on already skilful singers; it would make for very boring telly!
I thought the show was excellent. I agree with the poster who said it’s an absolute travesty that there appeared to be no musical heritage in the school. Yet this is extremely common, and is a natural result of the relentless focus on exam results and league tables. It is impossible to create league tables of the social bonds created through music, so you can’t blame schools for cutting it out the curriculum – it simply delivers them no benefits in the vicious free market of education we are steadily creating.
But of course, that’s the wrong way. Schools should be all about helping each person to achieve their full potential, helping them to unearth and utilise talents that they never knew existed, and it is astounding just how much of that can be delivered via music. The intangible benefits for the people involved are enormous – and the programme demonstrated that perfectly in its final episode. Sure, there were many points during the series that grated in the way Gareth handled the tough, stand-off situations… but once more I refer back to the fact that this is television: and they are always going to edit it to make it look worse than it is. I’m just happy to find out that Joe is OK as I felt truly awful watching that part of the second episode… being chucked out of the choir through no fault of your own must hurt!
Overall: a really fascinating programme. There are so many lessons to learn, but I just wonder how much follow up there will be. But reality TV is a fickle beast… It seemed such a shame that Gareth left at the end of the series – this is only the beginning, and is an excellent example of what can be achieved.
December 18th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed this program, it being of particular interest to me as i am in a school choir myself. At my school, in Scotland, we have a singing teacher in the school twice a week to give lessons to those who wish them, and she runs the senior choir at lunchtimes.
In reply to part of Liz’s post above it seems that the members and other kids at the school have been given a way to continue singing in a choir, to quote Joe’s Mum also from above “He has recently joined the school choir which is held after school.”
December 18th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
Hi
To Sally, I understand why you think what you’ve said about Gareth. I don’t know him, so all I can say is that we all have different agenda in everything we do. Even if part of it was self-promotion, there’s nothing wrong with that. The fact remains his intervention in the lives of those pupils has had an everlasting and positive effect.
I went to what could be termed a “middle class school” in Glasgow, and was one of the few people brave enough to pursue music for 5 whole years. Brave not only because fellow pupils saw the subject as a ridiculous waste of time, but because so did many misguided and talentless teachers of other more practical/conventional subjects. I’m sure you agree that music is not just an education… it is also an emotional journey, and the culmination of musical input in a child’s education is not just the knowledge that Every Good Boy Deserves Fun – it’s about allowing yourself to be passionate, not being scared to feel, or express yourself, to be connected to life, to see that it’s not all about UCAS points. Thank God (or whoever you want) that the children of Northolt have had this amazing opportunity and re-direction before the end of their education. Teenagers are deeply emotional people and the arts are essential in helping them deal with life.
I was deeply moved by this show. And I wish every child in that choir (and those who didn’t make it to China) success in whatever they do, and urge them never to let go of music. It was the only subject I was any good at at school, and if I hadn’t studied it, I dread to think where I would be today. There’s no need for embarassment here. Only immense pride, for the children, their parents and, yes, even for Gareth Malone! The guy deserves a medal.
Stuart
December 19th, 2006 at 12:14 am
I am posting to this forum because I cannot keep it to myself any longer!
As a choral animateur who works at a national level with youth choirs and specialises particularly in building choirs in schools where there has been none before, and with young people who have never sung before, I have found this programme demoralising and disheartening in the extreme.
It is perfectly possible to insist on high standards, discipline and commitment without the constant criticism and negativity that radiated from Gareth Malone throughout this series.
Whilst putting a choir such as this on the stage at the World Choir Olympics makes for good television, it was probably one of the most terrifying experiences of these young people’s lives, and all credit to them for pulling off such a creditable performance in spite of this.
The first mantra for any choir director is that singers should be treated as people, not as voice production machines, and time and time again, we saw him disregarding the *feelings* of the vulnerable young people with whom he was working.
Why did he reaudition? Why didn’t he just get it right the first time around?
At what point did he start running his choir by committee, allowing others in the choir to snipe at the tenors, who were under-confident before he even started with them.
Many of the singers, if the captions on screen were anything to go by, had been placed in the wrong section for their particular vocal sounds and tessituras – no wonder the tenors were struggling.
Why did he keep Chloe in the choir, in spite of her poor commitment and attendance – thus rewarding her above others whose commitment had been impeccable – whilst excluding the girl who was changing schools. Here was an ideal opportunity to show the headteacher exactly what the “power of music” can do, and he missed it.
Young people need clear boundaries (Malone kept shifting his from rehearsal to rehearsal), sensitive and high quality vocal tuition (which seemed sadly lacking here), a firm line, but touched with good humour, positivity and encouragement.
I was able to accurately predict all of the issues that were going to arise, within the first few seconds of the first programme. Malone’s approach to his LSO choir and the standard of singing they were producing spoke volumes.
There are many dedicated vocal practitioners in this country who have produced top quality youth choirs in unexpected areas of the country. Why did the producers not approach someone like Gillian Dibden? She is one of the most encouraging practitioners I have ever seen at work, and her approach is supported by her success with Berkshire Youth Choir? Or Sue Hollingworth, who’s Scunthorpe Youth Choir is stunning (and yes, it’s in Scunthorpe, so miracles can be worked!)
All in all, this programme has set back the cause of choral singing, animateur work, and indeed classical music education by about 50 years.
Gareth Malone is not someone I would employ as a trainee, let alone give him the responsibility of nurturing these young people.
It says a great deal about the quality and generosity of this particular group that they gave him such loyalty and commitment even when, in my opinion, he deserved far less.
December 19th, 2006 at 8:56 am
[...] There are differing views on the motives of those involved in setting up the programme itself and much discussion on the merits of the benefits of the inclusion of more formal traditional music teaching in the curriculum – see the Unreality TV blog, for a sample. [...]
December 19th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
I loved this programme but the maddening thing is that I missed the end of the final episode so although I’ve heard the clip of the final performance, which I thought was very good I have no idea how the choir got on in the competition. Can anyone enlighten me? It’s driving me mad.
December 19th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
My question is why wasn’t the Head of Music from the school involved in anyway? We saw her briefly (in the second show?) but she had little or no input into anything … or was that just the way the piece was edited?
Although invovled in arts education myself, and in a way that promtes social inclusion, I love the fact that in this case Gareth was harsh on the choir. ‘If you’re not good enough you’re not in’ is sometimes a good lesson to learn. The whole dilemma of making the arts inclusive without ‘dumbing down’ is a hard one to get right.
December 19th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Whether or not reality TV has been your cup of tea, this is one reality TV programme which has served a modern comprehensive well.
I would hope that more programmes of this nature are brought to our TV screens as music is a wonderful medium for achieving all sorts of different things.
Rightly or wrongly and even with its inherent faults the general concensus on the Choir is that it has made enjoyable viewing and that it was overall a good programme to watch.
I just hope that it sincerely puts music on the map for schools as a viable subject in the same way as Maths and English. Succeeding in The Music Industry is very competitive, and through music you gain confidence to exist in the world with its ever wide range of jobs which are also competitive to get, this teaches even adults that you have to work to get the best out of yourselves.
Even with its faults if I had to grade this programme I’d give it 10 out of 10.
MAUREEN
NEWCASTLE
December 20th, 2006 at 1:18 am
I am only seventeen, not proclaiming any sort of experience except my school choir performances and voice training.
I personally admire Gareth’s efforts with the kids; the improvement in them could only have been achieved by a large volume of training, but it was said that it took them 9 months to prepare for the final concert, and so I think the final performance was justified.
With editing tools as powerful as we have today, it is possible to make a recorded speech say anything you wish – so to judge the people involved from televised product of this venture is, I think, foolish.
And anyway, I did in fact enjoy the program – I was touched by the emotion that was displayed from both the singers and Gareth himself at the end.
I want to congratulate every single one of the singers who took part because it must have taken so much guts to get up there and sing, and the sound they produced at the end was admirable. They were the most important part of the project, and it should be recognised.
I hope the experience was good for them too, I was soo jealous! I really wish the LSO Community Choir was open to a wider area of London.
x Lucy
December 20th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
I just wanted to say that this program was very inspiring. I think Gareth did a great job with everyone and managed to create a great team spirit within the choir.
To see everyone being so emotional at the end of the series was also very touching as it showed just how much the choir meant to them.
And Jerry if you’re out there I think you’re cute!
Anyway just wanted to congratulate the choir on their great achievement.
December 20th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
I have only managed to watch the clips on the BBC website as I got rid of my telly last year!! Has anyone recorded these three episodes and would they be willing to lend the video/DVD to me? I am the vocal co-ordinator for a west london music service. We run a hugely succesful primary school singing festival (2007 will see 35 schools bringing choirs of between 25 and 50 children each) to perform together in one day, it really is MASSIVE. However at secondary level there is really only one school in the borough (coincidentally a girls’s school) with a really strong choral tradition. To scrape together anything more than a handful of year 7 girls for a christmas concert is pushing it elsewhere. I exagerate, but you get the gist. I am desperate to resurrect the singing culture in secondary schools but having taught peripatetic vocal lessons to years 7 – 11 for a number of years know what I am up against. I will not be beaten by the apathy as I know there are some fantastic singers out there who are only heard in private by their friends and family, if that. Teenagers are notoriously self conscious and I see the divide most strongly between the state and the private sector, if I could bottle the confidence of many privately educated children I would (please forgive what I know is a huge generalisation)and where are all the boys? Finding boys who are confident to sing in groups in mixed schools at secondary level is a rare and wonderful thing. Anyway, that is my personal experience and I would really like to see this programme to inspire or appall me. I will not be put off by my passion for getting singing back into secondary schools but would be grateful if anyone can help with the recording of the programme for starters. I will then be back in touch once I can persuade whoever needs persuading with a view to getting some funding. Now there begins a hard journey …..
With thanks in anticipation.
December 20th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
my cousin was on the programme
i think the school progressed imensley and i think the show was a great idea however, the editing was awful and put many aspects of the school and the children in the show in an awful light.
apparently Chloes detention was actually staged.
L, 13
December 21st, 2006 at 1:18 am
What added drama value, ‘Chloe detention staged’. ?
The BBC simply have to do a repeat of this programme.
Maybe a factory of biscuit packers. Anyone got any more ideas? Lets get creative.
Jot your ideas down and let them know what you want.
MAUREEN
NEWCASTLE
December 21st, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Just seen on teletext that the choir is being reshown tonight at 5 past midnight on bbc1 (the first programme)
Lots of people have been commenting on whether it is to be repeated. here is the answer!
December 22nd, 2006 at 5:05 pm
According to TRT, Sign Zone repeats are scheduled:
Friday 22 December
12:05am – 1:05am
BBC1
Sunday 31 December
3:25am – 4:25am
BBC1
not sure when the 3rd one is to be shown, just found this on another page somewhere!
December 27th, 2006 at 12:53 am
**i was switchin through the channels i saw the choir for 2 mins but when i saw chloe sulivan it made me watch all 3 of the episodes , thats the onli reason i watched the choir, since then i started to search for chloe , to see if i cud contact her in any way, from my heart she is the most beutiful girls i have ever seen, yes i am the same age as her, but i really just wnna get to know her so please someone, can you any how giv her msn add or somthing to me plz!! i wud b rely thankful, if yes just post it on these comments,ever since i saw chloe i think about her day and night plz somone help me, GIV ME HER MSN ADD OR SOMTHING PLZ
December 27th, 2006 at 12:54 am
if anyone has anyway to contact chloe please tell me, CHLOE IF YOUR READING THIS , I JUST WNNA SAY YOUR THE BEST THING THATS HAPENED TO ME, I THINK ABOUT U DAY AND NIGHT
December 28th, 2006 at 5:38 am
In defense of The Choir and Gareth Malone.
Having been in many choirs over all my years of singing you do become accustomed to working rather mechanically in other words with a specific time period a deadline has to be met. Hence, choir members become ‘voice production machines’. That is the real world, not some fairy tale world where after a few weeks of practice you have a wonderful sound from a group of people who have never sang in a choir before.
So Gareth Malone an experienced choirmaster from a recognised source the London Symphony Orchestra choir, had been asked to produce a choir within a time limit of nine months, that is an extensive period of time. The reason why he had been asked was not just to prove that it could be done or to create motivational television. The BBC had an ultimatum to raise the awareness for other music that exists in the world that is not Soul, Jazz, R and B, or Pop. The BBC do an incredible amount of classical music on radio and television, therefore encouraging it at regional level will ultimately increasing viewing and listening statistics for the financial future of the BBC.This also ensures that the young will at some point in the near future form part of the record buying public with a larger variety of musical genres as the basis of its consumption of music consummerism.
I realise that modern day purists think that classical music is to be retained via patronage, benelovence and minimal philanthropy for the elite, hence comments such as programmes of this nature ’set back the teaching of music and choral studies back by fifty years or so’ can only be expected from those whose sights are fixed. I also remember someone saying the ‘three tenors was the worst thing that had happened to classical music’. Oh how wrong they were. For in that very statement are the undertones of classical music the priviledge of the elite.
Scunthorpe Youth Choir, Berkshire Youth Choir or indeed the National Youth Choir of great Britain is not guaranteed to raise the levels of viewers in any significant way, this is irrespective of the achievements of its musical directors. These choirs already have there followers and supporters.
Northolt high school hadn’t any supporters at all, it was therefore done from scratch and whether or not the method of ‘voice production’ choir selection was done accurately enough to appease all viewers tastes, the programme successfully gave a real life situation and experience to those actively engaged in it. The experience gained was therefore both terrifyingly nerve racking and inspiring.
So the power of music gave the chance of a lifetime to Chloe and a few others, why not?
The end result of the programme also served a positive good, the positive good being that music needs to be reinstated as an important subject for study in schools.The performance of choral music and the function of a choir can also be important not just to the members but the overall lift of standards within a school. What greater good could have been expected than this. Music has for the last two decades been the poor relation in terms of educational subjects categorised the same as media studies or drama. Subjects for the non academic or the non achiever.
In the real world music is greater than all the academic subjects put together, but the level of competition is so high and there are so many competitiors very few succeed. But in the light of the changing work environment, the changing nature of old industries to new, music should take its place and be utilised as an important work provider in many technological areas. It is the seventh biggest revenue raiser, it is the seventh biggest industry in Britain, if music is forced to take a back seat where will its workers come from?
Now theres some food for thought?
MAUREEN
NEWCASTLE
December 30th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
when i first saw the choir advertised i thought yer i got 2 watch that and i did and loved it. i was really sad for the girl who was leaving the school but she got through to the choir. this programme shows that people can change from being naughty and being late like chloe to have a opertunity.
December 30th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
i was also really upset when they didnt get through i thought they where really good and im glad they got to go to china.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
ME TO A WAS UPSET WHEN THEY DIDNT GET TROUGHT BUT IT MUST HAVE TOOK A LOT OF BOTTLE TO EVEN GET THAT FAR! RUMMORS SAY THAT THE CHOIR IS STILL TOGETHER BUT NO SIGN OF Gareth Malone.
March 31st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
yep, sally martin is right! she rushed writing that paragraph a bit, but shes right. u know, its touching to see that someone like her, a 16 year old girl cares so much about the subject. and i was even lucky enough to be in china for these world championships, in wich she did nothing. but a couple of 19 year olds stole the show. i have seen this choir a few times before at concerts and what not, and sally martin, wel, she just seems 2 shy 4 me. but nevertheless, theres gash everywhere. which is definitely good. thanks, Edward beally (Sherwood)
January 25th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Well done all of you in the choir and to the choirmaster
May I just say that many people are rejected on a programme called X
Factor and they get over it, pick themselves up and get on with life!
Thank you BBC2 for this show and thank you also for the next one on BBC2 on Friday 1st February 2008.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I attended Northolt High School in the 1980’s and was irritated by the way the programme was advertised. It is not true to say that the school has never had a choir. When I was there, it had a thriving music department. Pupils and staff took part in carol concerts – for example as a choir singing Handel’s halleluyah chorus. There were also shows such as ‘grease’ and ‘tell me on a sunday’. There was an orchestra, and pupils had individual lessons on a variety of musical instruments. There were music practice rooms. It is a shame that that this musical tradition was ignored in order to present a false picture of Northolt as a completely musically deprived inner city school.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 pm
BEST programme ive seen on tv all year, im gutted i only caught the last few episodes. Beats Despereate Housewives and the like any day (i never thought id say that!) A serious triumph for the BBC (have given up my friday nights out since ive started watching it!!)
Rachel 24, Dublin, IRELAND
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
this programme moved me to tears – to see the change in those boys and especially how music and gareth had touched their lives. if there is one thing that can change the problems in our schools then this programme has shown it can be done by music. thank you BBC and Gareth – please can we have more of this kind og thing – my favourite tv programmes in years have been the choirs
February 25th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Cograts on this excellent prog.It was interesting to see the interaction between Gareth & the “non-musical” students.It truly showed his expert ability to stir the music from their souls! Please can we have more.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:47 am
is there a dvd about the choir it was wonderful i have sang in the albert hall myself [bill]
June 18th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I´m Mexican and had watched the series over cable tv this year. I do not ubderstand mahy of the arguments related to the British culture, but I have found this series very motivational. I cried when the little one was informed that he was going to China in place of the one that quit. Those children will never be damaged, they are strong. I only wish how can I get the film to show it to my children and pupils. Wonderful job.