The Choir (2006)

Gareth Malone, choirmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra St. Luke's Community Choir in London, believes that every child should sing in a choir. He sees it as an invaluable team and confidence building experience, as well as a venue to be exposed to great music. As such, he chooses Northolt High School, a regular comprehensive in working class Middlesex without a choral program history, within which to develop a 25 member mixed choir. His goal is for the choir to compete at the World Choir Games in China in nine months time. He has 1,300 potential choristers, but has to find the right mix of students who not only can sing harmony, but have the dedication to see the process through the nine months. Beyond the application and selection process for the World Choir Games, Gareth has some challenges in keeping the group motivated, especially if they are not chosen to go to China. Two of the motivation challenges are with music selection in that they are required to sing two classical songs, music which is foreign to most of the students, and at least one song in a language other than English. He also faces some challenges vocally, especially with the bass clef voices, which can be difficult with boys whose voices are just going through the change, and convincing older boys, who may now be comfortable with their new voices, that singing in a choir is an enjoyable experience.