Episode 1 The Choir

-One, two, three and...

-Ten years ago, choirmaster Gareth Malone

set out on a mission to get Britain singing.

-I want to turn this school into a singing school.

-Well, you won't.

-But I won't, did you say?

-Yes.

-What have I taken on?

-HE LAUGHS

Since then, he's inspired hundreds of people...

CHEERING

Singing brings people together spiritually, socially - it's vital!

..and created 14 very different choirs across the country.

# Light after darkness! My wondrous star... #

Now, to mark the tenth anniversary of The Choir,

Gareth wants to track down members

from all the choirs he's formed over the years for a huge reunion.

What I really want is everyone to sing together

in one giant performance - that would be beautiful.

And along the way, he hopes to discover

how being in one of his choirs has changed people's lives.

Music was definitely a dream for me. Gareth just realised it.

It was just a moment in my life. I'll thank him forever for that.

If I can sing in front of the Queen on live telly,

then I can pretty much do anything in my life.

But with just four short weeks to pull off his ambitious plan...

This is The Choir times 100.

..can he gather all his choirs together

for one final celebratory performance?

It's like holding a birthday party...

and I haven't got enough canapes!

# And all the people rejoice

# Rejoice! #

A decade ago, 30-year-old Gareth Malone

was an unknown community choirmaster.

I was fresh out of music college, I was hungry for a big challenge,

and this came up - this opportunity to make people sing -

and it felt absolutely right. I just... I leapt at it

Gareth's mission was

to go into a typical secondary school

with no tradition of singing and set up a choir.

BELL RINGS

LOUD OVERLAPPING CHATTER

He settled on Northolt High School in North West London.

We're just waiting for one or two

to please come to silence, so we can make a start.

But this wasn't to be ANY choir.

Gareth was determined it would hold its own with the very best.

We plan to take part in not just a sort of, like, local competition,

but a Choir Olympics - it's the World Choir Olympics 2006 to China.

Are we cool? Are we ready to go? I think we are.

'Walking into that school on that first day, with so much at stake.'

Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. I need to get through.

Can I get these kids to sing at an international level?

'The fact that it was going to be on television

'made it much more risky for me.'

-We are in an area of relative social deprivation.

-Mm-hm.

That would include a fair sprinkling of kids

with some of the disadvantages

-that can...

-Yeah.

-..trip them up later in life.

-We don't have a formal musical tradition.

-Yeah.

So I hope you're coming into some fertile

-but as yet unploughed ground.

-HE LAUGHS

'I felt like I didn't really know what I was doing.'

If I'm honest.

'It's slightly alarming that there's no history of music making.'

They're not going to know what I'm talking about.

I'm going to say, "mezzo forte,"

and they will be just giving me the blankest looks.

MUSIC: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin

Not unsurprisingly for a school with no musical tradition,

auditions to join the choir were hit and miss.

Can you sing this note?

FLAT NOTE

FLAT SCALES, HE LAUGHS

WHEEZY NOTE

NOTE DISAPPEARS, HE COUGHS

'And I was having to weed out who's actually interested in singing?

'Who'll be passionate about this? Who's got the potential?'

And very few of them actually did

have the potential to get all the way to China.

# Tainted love!

# Don't touch me, please!

# I cannot stand the way you tease! #

That took balls to come in here and do a dance. Ha-ha!

# Tainted love!

# Don't touch me, please! #

Rhonda's audition - I thought... I just...

That really stood out for me, as somebody who had personality,

who wasn't afraid, and she was, immediately,

as soon as she started dancing,

I felt like that was the kind of person I wanted in the choir.

# Say 'em loud, say 'em clear... #

'She was on side from day one.'

For me, she was the team leader.

-Let's do it for England.

-CHILDREN: Yay!

-Do it for Northolt.

-CHILDREN: Yay!

-Do it for our friends, our family.

-CHILDREN: Yay!

-Let's do it for Gareth.

-APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

That's much better than I could've done.

She practically brought me an apple.

TUNEFUL SINGING

Eventually, Gareth recruited

25 of the school's best singers for his choir.

But it wasn't plain sailing - the pupils struggled

with the technical challenges of choral singing.

Let me tell you, it is worlds away from where it's got to be by July.

It is nowhere near good enough at the moment to win anything.

There were so many points where I just thought,

"This is not working!" and in particular the tenors.

LOW SINGING

OK...

OTHERS BEGIN, SOME OUT OF TUNE

OK, hang on, what's your first note, tenors?

-SOME SING THE NOTE

-Can you all sing it?

-ALL SING THE NOTE

-One, two...

Ahmed, can you sit up and look like you're in a rehearsal,

not like you're watching EastEnders?! Here we go.

Pathetic! Wasting my time! You're wasting my time.

Frankly, I feel like walking out and going home.

I was under massive pressure and I was putting that pressure on them.

I can't believe we're in this position

where people don't know their part.

I had to kind of go now and again,

"This is real! You need to learn this stuff!

"You need to know what you're doing! You are on stage!

"You will look like idiots and so will I!"

And, sometimes, that pressure just exploded

and, when it exploded, it was Kodi.

-HE SIGHS LOUDLY

-I'm at a loss!

You're just sitting there being quiet, yeah?

Then why did you audition for this, then?!

-Cool, I'm going out.

-BOY: Sit down, man.

Kodi, please don't...

Kodi! Kodi!

-Kodi, come back!

-DOOR CRASHES

'Everyone's been kind of stressed for a few weeks,'

but they haven't really been saying anything,

for fear of causing arguments, so everyone just exploded today.

Oh, this is a really nightmarish situation!

Today, with just four weeks until his great choir reunion,

Gareth urgently needs to spread the word.

And the ex-pupils of Northolt are first on his list.

Of all the people in the choir who I would call on,

I think Rhonda's a good place to start.

She was always a group leader, so I'm going to give her a call.

RINGING

Ah, hello!

-Hello, how are you?

-I'm all right. Let me turn this up.

-Hey, how are you doing?

-I'm very well. How are you?

I'm extremely well. Nice to see your face!

So I'm getting the choir back together.

That sounds amazing!

Are you, are you keen?

I'm overly keen!

MUSIC: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart

Gareth's heading back to Northolt, where Rhonda still lives.

Really excited to see her. We spent so much time together

at such an important stage in their lives.

But unbeknownst to Gareth, Rhonda's not alone.

-Ah! Look!

-LAUGHTER

Aw!

-Mate, how are you?

-I'm great!

-Surprise!

-I'm really well...

Tenor Kodi has also turned up.

-Hello!

-Hello!

-How are you? That is a nice surprise.

-I'm glad!

Aw, I'm so pleased to see you!

-So how are you? How have you been?

-I'm very well.

-Very good.

-What are you doing?

-I'm doing design at the moment,

-just doing roadworks and things like that.

-Roadworks?

-Yeah.

-You're designing roadworks?

-I know, it's very interesting.

# All of me... #

But music is still a big part of Rhonda's life.

'I sing in a few jazz bands and...'

I've done a few gigs.

I've always wanted to perform.

That's why the choir was a stepping stone for that,

because it made me realise this is what I want to do.

# All of me! #

Kodi, what impact did the choir have on you?

The choir had a massive impact on my life personally, um,

as you probably can tell, back then, I was a bit of a troubled teen.

I had some definite issues.

It was a famous thing and everyone calls me "Door Slammer Kodi" still!

-My Christmas cards, I still get DSK.

-DSK?!

-Absolutely, absolutely!

-I'm so sorry!

-Watching myself back and seeing how I carried myself,

and you were the first adult that had said that music

wasn't a complete waste of time and it was a plausible option to pursue.

It was a massive, massive change for me, the choir,

-it stemmed who I am now, pretty much.

-Hmm, wow.

LOUD DRUMMING

Kodi now works in the music industry.

I've been drum teching

for artists such as Laura Mvula and, in the last 18 months, Paolo Nutini.

I've been touring with them around the world

and doing festivals like this.

Music was definitely a dream for me. Gareth just realised it.

So I plan to have a reunion, not just of your choir,

-but of all the choirs that I've been involved in...

-Brilliant.

-..for the last ten years.

-Wow, OK!

-And I think it would not be right

if you didn't make an appearance there.

-Let's do it!

-Yeah.

-Why not?

-Yeah, let's do it!

-Good! Oh, well, that's good, so I've got two!

-Yes.

-OK, well, will you help me find all the others?

-Yes.

-Absolutely!

Next on Gareth's hit list -

one of his most challenging choir members ever.

# At night, I think of you

# I want to be your lady, baby! #

The student that really stands out in my memory is Chloe Sullivan,

with whom I had my ups and downs.

I don't think I'm naughty compared to some people that I know,

but I don't think I'm completely obedient either.

You're about there, between those two.

MUSIC: Theme from Carmen by Georges Bizet

-Interesting choice!

-Yeah.

I have to say that she's one of the girls in Year 11 that we are

-most concerned about...

-Right.

-..in terms of academic outcomes.

Not unable, but, um, her disaffection is

shown typically, I'm afraid, in lateness to school,

-so you might want to think about commitment.

-Uh-huh?

Is she genuinely committed to attending and to turning up on time

-and all those sort of things?

-Uh-huh.

Ashley Mills. Yes. Cathy Surrey? Charlie? Yes. Chloe Sullivan?

And answer came there none. Any idea where Chloe Sullivan is?

She was late, she wouldn't answer the phone,

so I couldn't get hold of her

and, at one stage, I did think she would leave.

-Hello?

-MUSIC ON THE LINE

Hmm, I'm going to try again.

-She said hello and then...

-PHONE BEEPS

She probably heard my voice and then went, "Oh!"

'It ran out of battery when he called.'

Just as he said, "Hello, is that Chloe?" it cut out.

If you can't engage a girl like Chloe

with a musical activity like this,

then what hope is there for her? And I felt like, if I gave up on her,

then it's kind of like the last line of defence. If the arts fail...

you know, she's got no chance!

Gareth's patience eventually paid off.

-Give her a clap, everyone.

-APPLAUSE AND CHEERS

# There's a calm surrender to the rush of day... # Here we go, ready?

-SOULFUL SINGING:

-# There's a calm surrender

# To the rush of day

# When the heat of the rolling wind

# Can be turned away

# An enchanted moment

# And it sees me through

# It's enough for this restless warrior

# Just to be with you. #

SHE LAUGHS, HUGE CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

Well done, Chloe. That was great.

That took...that took a lot of nerve. Well done.

That was a massive change and I felt like actually rewarding that effort.

So Gareth decided she should have a leading role

at the World Choir Olympics.

There's a long solo on page nine.

I think... Chloe?

Well done.

CHEERING

'I'd love her to be part of this reunion,'

because she was a huge part of Northolt.

-'Hello?'

-Hello, Chloe, it's Gareth.

-'Oh, hi, Gareth, how are you doing?'

-I'm really well, how are you?

-'Yeah, I'm good, thank you.'

I remember all the days of phoning you

-and just getting your answerphone.

-SHE LAUGHS

Since leaving school,

Chloe's been forging a career as a development worker

as well as studying for a degree

and Gareth's gone to meet her after work.

How is singing in your life?

-Have you been doing any?

-Um, no, not really.

I went through patches of singing in, like, a church choir

and then, um, I helped out on some, like, singing classes as well.

-So you became the teacher?

-Yeah!

-How was that?

-It was OK. The young people were nice, so...

-Right.

..they wanted to be there and, yeah, they got on with it.

-Just like you(!)

-SHE LAUGHS:

-Yeah!

How does it feel, looking back to that time?

It's really strange! I don't recognise who...

-I can't identify with who I was then.

-Really?

So what...what changed in your life to get to where you are now?

Um, probably, to start with,

-the experience of being in the choir.

-Really?

It kind of broadened my perspective of what's achievable and, also,

when I looked back on how I was, I wanted to change that,

-so I took responsibility of changing that.

-Yeah.

-Did it make a difference going to China?

-Yeah.

It opened up a broader perspective of the world.

-The world is bigger than Northolt.

-Yeah, it's huge, yeah!

Well, look, I'm having a reunion and there's a rehearsal next Tuesday.

-Can't do that!

-Can't do Tuesday?

-No.

-Oh, no!

-I'm in Portugal next Tuesday.

-Portugal? Oh, no!

-Yeah.

-If I send you some notes, will you learn them?

-Yes.

-You're diligent now?

-Yeah.

-I'll be in the sea and the pool...

-This is Chloe 2.0.

-Yeah!

Well, um, if you can't come to the one on Tuesday,

-will you come to the next rehearsal?

-Yeah.

-And I'll send you some stuff.

-OK.

-I'll see you soon!

-Yeah.

-Bye.

-I'm really glad you're doing it.

-Great to see you.

-You too, bye-bye.

-See you.

Back in July 2006, Gareth's Northolt choir jetted nearly 5,000 miles

round the world to China to compete in the World Choir Olympics.

Welcome to China.

I was elated. What 15-year-old goes to China? Unbelievable!

It's really different. It's, like, mad.

I had only ever been abroad once before,

so it was quite strange being in a new culture that we had to learn

and everyone kept bowing around us and things like that,

'so it was an eye-opening experience.'

It's very different from Wembley market.

This was huge! The biggest thing that had ever happened to them!

And I felt like aspiration was something that was

missing in some of their lives and here was a chance to excite and

to make them aspire to do something that they'd never done before.

The contest was attended by 400 rival choirs.

And, for the pupils of Northolt,

who nine months previously had never sung in a choir,

just being there felt like a monumental achievement.

-# Sail on, silver girl

-Sail on, silver girl

-# Sail on by

-Sail on by

# Your time has come to shine!

# All your dreams are on their way

-ALL:

-# See how they shine! #

'I was very proud of the choir's achievements and what we did -'

how we worked together and how we improved over the time.

# Like a bridge over troubled water

# I will ease your mind. #

MUSIC STOPS, APPLAUSE

Well done! Yey!

To get from there, when we've never sung in a classical choir before,

to this point now, is just amazing.

-Really good. ..Come here.

-It was beautiful!

-It was beautiful!

The Northolt choir didn't bag a medal at the Choir Olympics.

But the pupils all returned home with a new sense of self-confidence.

I look back with such fond memories about how, over a course of a year,

all of us could change so much in regards to the confidence

and just wanting to sing and having this dedication to do

something completely different to what we would've done normally.

I'm really going to miss them.

This is what being in a choir's about.

It's the most moving thing, to stand up with a group of people like this

and you get to know them, you get to know them in a wonderful sense,

in a sense that you don't get to know people, everyday people.

I think, in those kids' minds,

choir was something that happened in other schools. Not for them.

And I absolutely proved that it could be for them,

that it could matter to them, that they could get all the way to China

and they could stand on that stage with integrity,

and it would mean something... to them.

MUSIC: Concerto For Two Pianos & Orchestra by Karl Brazda

It's just over three weeks now until the big event and, so far, Gareth's

only managed to persuade three old faces to come and sing.

It feels a bit thin on the ground.

I don't really have enough people to warrant calling it a choir.

Um, I've got a few numbers to phone.

I'm going to see if I can gather people together.

RINGING

Hello, can you hear me?

-RINGING

-Come on!

-'Hello?'

-Hello, can you hear me?

-'Welcome to the EE voicemail...'

-Argh! ..Hello?!

FAST-PACED VOICEMAIL GREETING

-Hello?

-'..is not available.'

-Argh!

-'Yes?'

-Hello, it's Gareth Malone.

-HE LAUGHS:

-'Oh, hello, Gareth!'

Just checking you're up for coming and having a reunion

-and doing some singing?

-'Yeah, absolutely.'

Yes!

-Are you coming tomorrow to the rehearsal?

-'Yes, I am, I am coming.'

I think I've got about nine now.

Nine is... It's too small.

With the reunion looming, and only a handful of singers signed up,

Gareth now plans to track down one of his most challenging choirs.

I'm off to Lancaster School for Boys,

which is where I formed a choir of 100 boys.

I'll be very interested to see whether the atmosphere

around singing is the same as it was when I left.

I hope it hasn't gone back to the one that...

to what it was like when I arrived. It was very negative.

MUSIC: William Tell Overture by Rossini

In 2007, Gareth chose the Lancaster School -

one of the biggest single-sex comprehensives in the country -

to confront a serious image problem he'd identified with singing.

It's not really kind of a boys' thing,

cos boys prefer, like, football and sports.

Singing is for girls.

Boys are a problem in choirs.

They were when I was at school and they certainly were

when I turned up in Lancaster School for Boys in Leicester.

-I want to turn this school into a singing school.

-Well, you won't.

-I won't, did you say?

-Yes!

They did not want to sing!

-I tell you now, I ain't singing.

-Flat refusals!

Choir singings boring, innit?

It's like church singing!

Church singing's boring as well!

Gareth needed to grab their attention from the off.

# She's like the swallow that flies so high

# She's like the river that never runs dry...#

It was a last-minute decision to stand up and sing a song.

'You've got to lead from the front,

'and so, I stood up in that assembly hall and I sang'

possibly the girliest song ever, um, totally unashamed.

# I love my love

# But love is no more. #

There was no red on his face or anything!

I mean, I saw a few boys laughing and that,

but I thought it was very good.

I just thought it was good. It wasn't funny, it was just good.

Eight years later, Gareth has returned to Leicester

in the hope the school can put him in touch with some of its ex-pupils.

I can hear singing - that's encouraging.

SCHOOL CHOIR PERFORM

SINGING AND LOUD DRUMMING

SINGING AND PLAYING STOPS, CHEERING

Sweet.

Sweet. The gutsy singing!

Just quickly, we have a very special visitor.

-Good morning, Mr Malone.

-Morning.

-Morning, boys.

-ALL: Morning.

And thank you very much, gentlemen. That was really lovely.

Um, it feels very strange to be back here. I think you should all sing.

-Would you all like to sing a song?

-ALL: Yeah!

-Yeah!

Right, let's try it! Here we go, one, two, three...

-# And darling...

-Darling, stand by me

# Oh-oh, stand by me

# Oh, stand...

# Stand by me. #

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much, boys.

I really enjoy singing.

I've been doing it for, like, a good couple of years.

Boys can sing and we've proven it today.

It is not just a girl's thing.

Singing is for all genders and all people.

It does feel very different now.

I felt this morning singing in that assembly that you...

that it was sort of OK and there were 20 boys on stage

and they were all singing and no-one really minded

and that is so different.

That would not have happened when I arrived.

BELL RINGS

Back in 2007, when Gareth became choirmaster for nine months,

his vision was to create a huge boys choir

capable of performing at the Royal Albert Hall,

one of the world's most iconic stages.

Don't throw it at me. Come over here, pick it up

But it proved an uphill struggle.

It was systemic!

Everyone had this attitude in that school that singing was toxic.

Even the boys that sang didn't want to sing.

You know, there were boys that sang in the local churches or cathedrals.

Would they sing within school? Not a chance.

Even the GCSE music students were reticent to let loose.

UNENTHUSIASTIC SINGING

SINGING GETS QUIETER

'They need a lot of cajoling, a lot of persuading,'

a lot of, um, a lot of praise, I need to...

"You're very good, you're doing very well,

"let's do it again just a little bit better."

It's going to be a softly-softly approach with this lot, I think.

He's got a very positive attitude.

He's not just like, "OK, now, I know no-one wants to,

"but we're going to do some choir singing."

MORE ENTHUSIASTIC SINGING

After weeks of intensive group teaching and one-on-one lessons,

slowly the school started to sing.

-ALL:

-# Sometimes in our lives

-GARETH SINGS LOUDLY

# We all have pain

# We all have sorrow

# But if we are wise

# We know that there's always tomorrow... #

Eventually, Gareth assembled a choir

and the first recruits started to practise.

One, two, three...

-Oh...

-HE SLAMS THE KEYBOARD

I'm a stickler for the first word.

I need to hear "It's been a..." or else...

-HE MUMBLES:

-"It's been a hard..." ..doesn't make any sense.

One, two, three...

# It's been a hard day's night

# And I've been working like a dog... #

Back at the Lancaster School today, Gareth's trying to and find out

what happened to some of his former choir members,

with the help of headmaster Mr Kennedy.

To jog their memories,

Gareth's brought a picture of the entire choir

at their final performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

-TUNEFUL SINGING

-Three...

I'd love to find Tojan. Do you know where he is?

Tojan is touring at the moment with a cruise liner.

-# When the night has come... #

-'What about Whachi?'

I don't know where he is, but I understand family

have still got a business in the locality.

-We could find out from there.

-It was a chippy?

-Yeah.

# Another day has gone... #

-Imran - do you know where Imran is?

-No.

-No.

-He's disappeared.

-In Leicester?

-# What would you think...? #

-'There's Lewis Meagor.'

Do you know what he's doing?

-Studying. I understand.

-Studying.

Lewis, can I have a quick word?

Gareth awarded 13-year-old Lewis

with a solo at the choir's first ever public performance.

-Oh, thank you.

-Well done.

'I'm very, very happy!'

I just can't believe it, cos there were so many good singers!

# You'll forget the sun... #

'Fields Of Gold is a very important song to me,

'because it's my nan's favourite song'

and my mum knows it very well as well and she likes it.

SINGING CONTINUES

I've been singing around the house, when mum isn't here,

cos I just want to surprise her.

He must know that he's got something good going on,

because he's desperate to show me, but wants it to be when he's ready.

I love my mum to bits and, um...

I'd be really proud if she thought I could sing really good.

Eight years on and Lewis is studying for a degree in acting.

-Hello!

-Oh, hey there.

-How are you?

So Gareth's counting on him to come and sing at his big choir reunion.

What difference did being in the choir make to you?

It made a massive difference,

because, like, actually going on stage was just like that moment

where you realise, "That's what I want to do!"

So was that your first experience of performing on a big stage, then?

Properly, yeah, like a proper big stage,

-and that's the scariest moment of my life.

-Really?

-I think.

Lewis' solo opened the choir's first performance at the school.

# You'll remember me when the west wind moves

-# Upon the fields of barley... #

-CHOIR HARMONISES

# You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky

# As we walk in fields of gold

ALL: # When we walked in fields of gold. #

CHEERING

Are you still singing?

Yeah, we do choral stuff and then we do solo stuff.

-Great, so actually studying it?

-Yeah, four hours a week.

# Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends... #

'The choir's changed my life. I wanted to be a sportsman'

and I still carry on my sport, I'm a really keen cricketer,

but I actually genuinely see a career in performing

and acting and singing.

People get their moments different times in life - I got mine early.

-It's good to see you.

-Good to see you.

It's nice to know that the choir had such an impact on him.

That's the thing - put the stage in front of somebody at that age

and, if they're right for it, you just get the bug for life.

Another Lancaster boy profoundly affected by joining Gareth's choir

was 11-year-old Michael.

He has been bullied quite badly.

He'd come home, he'd been punched on the way down the corridor.

One day, he'd been kicked in the stomach.

That's fine.

'A very tearful little boy coming home sometimes, confused.'

At the time, I was going through a difficult time period in school.

Um, the choir was really kind of my outlet

from that difficult time period.

And...

HE HARMONISES

-And mah...

-# Mah-ah-ah-ah... #

'I'd wake up in mornings, I wouldn't want to go into school,

'but the only reason I went in was knowing,

'at the end of the day, I had a choir rehearsal'

and actually that was going to be a positive thing.

# The rain in the mountains... #

'Gareth, yeah, he really helped me, he spent a lot of time with me.'

He was always a very kind of a positive person

'and, as such, you know, it kind of helped you to believe in yourself.'

-Good!

-'He built your confidence up and helped you to believe'

that, actually, if you want to do it, you can do it.

That's good, that's coming on well.

-See you, sir.

-'I think Michael blossomed in the choir,'

because he started, having been somebody bullied in the past,

and was under-confident, but lovely,

like really full of personality, and I saw him just become a bit happier.

I've just dug out my old memory box with all the newspaper clippings

and everything from all the local press and everything

to do with the choir.

Michael enjoyed a career in recruitment before going on

to become a team leader in a busy pub kitchen.

I listen to music all day, everyday, working in a kitchen.

Music's a big part of my life, music gets you through tough situations,

it gets you through times where you're just low as a person.

I stayed in the choir throughout my school years

and then community choir after that.

I do miss part of the choir, it was something that, you know,

was a big part of my life.

To motivate the boys' choir,

Gareth decided to set them an ambitious goal.

He applied for a place at the prestigious School Prom

at the Royal Albert Hall.

But first they would need the approval of the

School Prom assessor Leonora Davies.

This is the Lancaster School Choir.

Very nice to see you all. I'm looking forward to listening.

I'd known Leonora Davies for many years

and she's got a formidable reputation as somebody

from the music education world, she knows whether it's good or not.

BOYS' CHOIR SING

I can remember the build-up of going to the Royal Albert Hall

and having that woman come in and we all realised the enormity.

The more it came down the line, we realised how big this was.

It's not perfect, it takes a long time to get to that,

but I think you are ready to go and showcase your work

at the Albert Hall.

Those boys like Michael and Lewis who had joined me in this,

they deserved to be on that stage in London because of what

they'd risked in front of all the other boys in the school.

-HE RAPS:

-I warned you, don't step out of line, son,

out of the limelight, step to the side...

But one group of boys who steadfastly refused to get involved

in Gareth's choir were the playground MCs.

THEY RAP AND BEATBOX

They are a group of people who really are hugely passionate

about music and yet they're not in the choir and that's crazy

and it's all because they think it's "a choir" and they think

it's for someone else, it's not for them.

And I've got to get them in!

Guys, can I have a quick, quick chat?

Hello...

Oh, dear, what a shame, they're running away.

They thought they knew everything there is about music and

"What is this idiot coming in from the outside? He's a teacher,

"what can he possibly know about music?"

And I had to kind of... I had to prove them wrong.

HE RAPS

'The chief amongst those was Imran.

'He just wouldn't come anywhere near a choir rehearsal'

and I knew that he was talented, I'd heard him sing a couple of times

and everyone said he sang and so I went all out to try and win him over

and get him in into the choir.

But Imran had a problem with authority.

I don't respect any of my teachers.

I do my own thing, I don't follow no-one.

Can I have the keyboards off?

That's the third time of asking.

I'm just going to, I think, make this a little simpler for you

by unplugging it. The next one of you that talks is going outside.

'And he'd be a little so-and-so, he was so difficult to deal with'

because I was a teacher and he felt like he had to show he was "the man".

It was very, very frustrating.

Imran, the hoodie. The hoodie's got to go.

So can you stay behind, Imran?

Imran, wait. Imran!

HE SIGHS ANGRILY BLEEP.

-I could

-BLEEP

-scream!

I was not going to be bested by a group of 14, 15-year-olds.

You know, I thought, "I've got to have a trick up my sleeve

"that is going to win them over."

I'm very disappointed in you, Imran.

'And finally the way I did it was by getting in a group that were

'better than them at what they felt they were good at.#

A cappella beatbox group Sense of Sound

showcased Gareth's vision of choral cool.

You could see that it was a penny-dropping moment of him going,

"Oh, this is actually really good,

"this is actually something that I can be involved in, this is cool."

# Darling, darling, stand by me

# Oh, stand by me. #

I felt that today was...really seismic for Imran.

He started by beatboxing and not really wanting to sing

and by the end of the day he had been drawn into the singing group

and he was singing his heart out.

It was good cos I don't think I ever heard anything like that.

I want to learn how to do that cos I'd actually prefer doing that

than doing the beatboxing thing.

I feel like this could be the beginning of something very exciting.

After seven months in the school,

Gareth had finally persuaded the MCs to collaborate with his choir.

This is it, this is the first rehearsal

where everyone comes together.

Upper voice choir, lower voice choir, say hello to beatboxers.

ALL: Hello, beatboxers!

Beatboxers, say hello to the upper voice and lower voice choirs.

One, two, three, four.

Imran may have joined the choir, but Gareth now faced a new issue

if he wanted to him to show off his talents in front a 5,000-strong

audience at the Royal Albert Hall.

I promise we'll help you.

'I think there's a lot of fear for Imran.'

He gets this sort of rabbit-caught-in-the-headlights look

and, yeah, I think he's afraid of looking like an idiot

and afraid of looking, you know, looking bad in front of his mates.

But there was more to Imran's reluctance to sing

than Gareth realised.

I'm not scared of it, er...

Well, I am in a way cos once...ages ago,

I went with my dad to karaoke and I sang a song

by R Kelly and then when I went out,

my dad said, "Hmm, nah, that weren't that good."

I think it was just that comment and I just, like, thought,

"No, I'm sticking to what I can do."

I think it was just that cos before, I thought I could sing,

I kind of took singing quite seriously.

If Mr Malone could take that fear away where I wasn't scared

of singing, I thought I could sing, I probably would do it.

Hey, Imran.

Gareth put in the hours in a bid to boost Imran's confidence.

Why don't we try singing Beautiful Girl?

-HE SINGS:

-You're way too...

That bit.

Let's give it a go - ready?

# You're way too beautiful, girl

# That's why it'll never work

# You'll have me suicidal, suicidal

# When they say it's over. #

OK, can I lay my cards on the table?

What I think is that you should...

As part of the beatbox choir,

I think you should do that and do it as a solo.

Do you think you could do that at the Albert Hall?

-Yeah.

-I think that's a plan, then. Right.

Having gone through so much to win Imran's trust eight years ago,

it's important to Gareth that he tracks him down.

I'd love him to be in this, because he's a great singer,

he's really musical, had a nice voice...

People really responded to his singing and he was such a huge part

of everything I did at Lancaster School.

Gareth's discovered his former pupil is now making music on the internet.

Oh, he's going loads of YouTube stuff!

HE BEATBOXES

That's great!

# I was a poor wayfaring stranger... #

I'm so happy about this.

# Travelling through... #

He's singing and it's sort of choral.

I might just send him an e-mail.

"Hi, just watched your video. Hope you're well.

"I'd love to be in touch. Best, Gareth."

In November 2007, the Lancaster Boys' Choir arrived in London

to face the musical challenge of their lives...

performing at the Royal Albert Hall School Prom in front of an audience

of 5,000 and alongside some of the country's best choral talent.

First reactions were, "Wow!"

It's a bit scary, in a sense,

to be singing in front of all of those people.

I need to calm down cos I'm getting a bit too excited.

-ANNOUNCER:

-'They are the young men of Lancaster School in Leicester.'

(I'm actually slightly lost for words!)

AUDIENCE APPLAUDS

I'd never performed at the Albert Hall before.

It was really exhilarating but a very frightening thing to do.

-MOUTHS:

-(This is it!)

BOYS: Da-da-dum-dum, da-da-dum-dum...

# You're way too beautiful, girl

# That's why it'll never work

# You'll have me suicidal, suicidal

# When you say it's over

# Damn, all these beautiful girls... #

There's a look in Imran's eye during that solo that just says,

"I love this" and that makes me so proud.

# Stand by me

# If ever you're in trouble won't you

# Stand by me

# Stand by me... #

All I wanted was for them to say, "We love singing and it's OK,"

and I finally got that.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Whoo!

You were fantastic. You really were.

To see them sing and really want to sing well

that means so much.

Really, really incredible.

Nothing so far that I've done in my life could beat this.

It's something I'm going to remember for a long time.

It was a career highlight to be in the Royal Albert Hall

on stage with those boys and to prove to those boys

that they could do it and it could feel good

and it could be acceptable. That was an amazing achievement.

Gareth's Great Choir Reunion is less than two weeks away.

He's still on the hunt for members from 12 of the 14 choirs

he's created in the last decade.

But today he's starting rehearsals with the singers he has contacted

from his two school choirs.

Members of the Northolt choir are the first to arrive,

led by Gareth's former right-hand woman, Rhonda.

Hey!

Of course you're first.

Oh, Cathy! Hello! How are you?

For some, this is the first time they've seen each other

since school.

-I can't believe it's been ten years.

-Neither can I.

-Hello, Sophie! How are you?

-I'm really good, thank you.

-What are you up to? What are you doing?

-I teach dancing.

Good, glad to hear it.

So we've got three people working in music from this choir.

And you're teaching dance. Anyone else?

You're a scientist.

-And you... Do you do primary or secondary?

-Primary.

Well, that's basically a music teacher.

Next in are the Lancaster boys who can make tonight's rehearsal.

Hello! Welcome, welcome.

Welcome, please, everyone,

the boys from the Lancaster School in Leicester.

Hello!

Boston! Mate, how are you? Oh, my God! You are changed, as well.

-Hello, Wahchi.

-How are you? Good?

I'm very well. Michael, look at you!

Good to see you. How are you?

Extremely grown-up. Say hello to the Northolt Phoenix Choir.

-ALL:

-Hello!

-And this is... These are some of the members of the choir

from Lancaster School, which was my second one

that I did straight after you and I thought, probably,

we were struggling a bit for boys so here you all are.

-So, Neel, what are you up to?

-I'm studying medicine at the moment.

OK. Dr Neel. What are you doing?

I just finished uni.

I'm just dancing now and trying to get my creativity on, I guess.

-What sort of dance?

-Street dance.

-Can you do us some moves?

-Maybe.

-OK.

LAUGHTER

HE BEATBOXES

I'm out of breath.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Very nice. Love that.

-Shall we put a choir together?

-ALL:

-Yes.

-Good.

All right. Let's do it.

This will be the first time these kids have sung together in ten years

so I don't know what this is going to sound like

but I can't wait to find out.

We're going to start with a song.

It is by James Bay

and it's called Hold Back the River.

Good choice.

The other thing is that this is a wonderful song

because it's only got six notes in it and they go like this.

# Ah ah ah ah ah ah. #

Ready? Two, three...

# Ah ah ah ah ah ah. #

We've now got an enviable position of having more men than women,

which is a rarity for choirs.

Shall we have a little sight-read of it?

Let's do the soprano line first, so just sopranos.

One, two, three and...

# Try to keep you close to me

# But life got in between... #

We are going to have so much rhythmic fun with this, aren't we?

Good. Good start. Let's go altos. Three, and...

# Tried to square not... #

That's the only one that goes down. "There" stays up.

# Think I should have been... #

OK, let's have a look at... We're going to call you baritones.

One, two, three, and...

# Tried to square... #

Oh! That's the tune.

So it's "Tried to square..." So don't float up to the soprano part.

Two, three, and...

# Tried to... #

No! That's the tune. Here's the note.

# Tried. #

One, two... That's it, Michael. Very nice. Two, three, and...

# Tried to square

# Not being there

# But think that I should have been... #

A sound any choir would be proud of.

On your feet.

Good. OK, this is going to be great. Let's layer it back up. And...

# Tried to keep you close to me

# But life got in between... #

Good.

Got your note?

# Tried to square not being there

# But think that I should have been. #

First rehearsals are terrible because you're learning notes

but there were some really warm moments.

They started to make a good sound.

They looked up and they were enjoying it.

# Hold back the river Let me look in your eyes

# Hold back the river so I... #

It's really nice to hear everyone's blended together again

and especially now that we've got boys as well. We never had boys.

I was about to say that. I'm really enjoying hearing some boys.

# Hold back the river Hold back

# Lonely water... #

Singing together ten years ago was very different

because your coolness had to come first.

Now everyone knows who they are,

they're not trying to be anyone else, so it's much easier.

# Hold back the river so I

# Can stop for a minute and see where you hide... #

It's really nice sharing the floor with Gareth again

and hearing him sing and just seeing him in his element.

# Let us hold each other

# Oh

# Oh-oh

# Oh-oh... #

It's going to be so good! OK, great.

If you want to go up the octave on that.

# Lonely water! #

You can totally do that. Any tenors, go for it.

We've got a couple of guys going a bit lower than needed but not bad.

With everyone feeling so inspired to be back in the rehearsal room,

Gareth throws them a surprise.

May I suggest that, as a little warm-up to our actual performance

in front of the massed groups of choirs,

that we have our own little reunion here

and that we invite friends and family along

and anyone, teachers or people that were involved along the way.

-So, do think that's a good idea?

-ALL:

-Yes.

All right. See you next time.

I'm glad we're having a performance in here

in front of their friends and family. I think it'll be great.

Get them back in the zone.

They haven't performed, some of them, for years,

since they were at school so this will be a good chance

to get back into it.

Rehearsal over, Gareth gets a message

from one of his missing Lancaster soloists, Imran.

He's given me a mobile number.

If you could call around 8pm I would love to chat.

Give him a call.

-'Hello?'

-Hi, it's Gareth Malone.

-'Oh, wow!'

-Hello, how are you?

'I haven't heard from you in a while.'

I just wanted to say how moved I was by your singing

-and I just found it...

-'Thank you.'

I found it really, really wonderful.

What have you been up to?

Now 23 and a senior care officer,

Imran has changed his name to Khaled.

A devout Muslim,

his faith has helped him leave his troubled schooldays behind him.

I feel like I became a better person

so, when I was 16, I wanted to kind of

give that better person a new name.

I didn't feel like I was Imran any more.

I wanted to become Khaled.

So it was a really big transition,

being so caught up in my ego to where I think I'm at now,

where I'm just kind of focused on spirituality and God

and things like that.

# How could this be? #

But Khaled has never forgotten his time with Gareth.

# For you are not alone. #

-Good, Imran. Are you American?

-No.

Good. Don't sing with an American accent.

See if you can do it in an English accent.

# Another day is gone... #

Good, it's much better.

You could see that I was just a teenager

working out where I fitted in life

so his role that he played in me embracing singing more

was definitely a vital one and who knows if I'd still be singing today

if it wasn't for what he did?

# You're not here with me... #

# You're nat here! #

It was really good. It was really English and then you went,

"You're nat here with me!"

Boy, you're nat here, OK?

Despite his enduring love of music,

Khaled's beliefs mean he doesn't feel he can sing

in the reunion choir.

Choirs doesn't come from Islam. They come from Christianity.

Most choirs sing in churches.

Not all of them but the majority, that's kind of where it stems from.

'Unfortunately, I don't think, um, I'd want to be...'

-That's absolutely fine.

-'I wanted you to know, you know...'

-Yes.

'I wish you the best, but it's not something that I'd want to do.'

-All right, all the best. It's so lovely to hear your voice. Bye-bye, Khaled.

-'All right.'

-Bye.

PHONE BEEPS

Wow, my goodness.

That is not, that's not the boy that I knew

and that is the most dramatic change of everyone.

I know some of them have grown beards and cut their hair

and got muscly,

but he has changed to the, to the core,

and you could see it there and I'm so happy that he's gone down,

that he's going down a positive route.

He's found religion and it's given him something

that's going to be the focus in his life.

# Tried to keep...

To make sure they're up to scratch for their first performance,

the choir organise extra rehearsals on their own.

# Tried to square...

To see that they're all giving up their time

and that they've come back...

is wonderful, because it's,

it's because of those friendships that they formed

and that music that they sang,

those experiences they had on stage,

it's meant something to them

and I think it will mean something to them for the rest of their lives,

I don't think you forget being in a choir,

Especially not when you're young.

It's going to be brilliant. Can you see the audience going, hurray?

And you being like, yeah? That's going to be. I know it is, OK?

He taught me to be confident and expressive

in a way that isn't sort of, maybe cool, when you're a younger lad.

APPLAUSE

We are the Lancaster School choir and we are here to sing you a song.

It should be a great piece.

I hope you enjoy it.

'Being a part of the choir, it really helped me, you know,

'as well as to communicate better,'

it helped me with my confidence, just to believe in myself.

# Like a bridge... #

If you look back on to when music started to get serious for me,

that's it, right there.

I'm so proud, come here.

-It was beautiful.

-It was beautiful.

I have the most amazing feeling whenever I think about what we did.

All those memories I have will stay with me for a very long time.

Gareth's attempts to track down his other choirs continue,

but in the meantime,

he's persuaded old boys and girls of Northolt High

and the Lancaster School

to stage their own mini concert for friends and family.

I'm really looking forward to this performance, I think it'll be lovely.

It'll just be a great atmosphere, everyone wants to do it

and it's a lovely way to mark something that was so special to everyone.

I am the person I am today because of that experience.

It completely changed my life.

Being with those people, performing,

teaching people, um, intensively for, over months, that was...

that was an amazing experience and one that I really treasure

and one that I'm really happy to be able to mark with a performance.

Look, that's you.

Oh, my God!

Ah, hello. Bunting!

CHEERING

-I love bunting.

-Buzzing. Absolutely buzzing, the atmosphere is buzzing.

-Is that you?

-LAUGHTER

Seeing all our young, fresh faces, it's like, oh, my God,

you can't believe it's been so long.

I think it's emotional being a choir again,

because we know that we've all kind of moved on in life

and this will be just a brief moment in time

where we get to be... a choir and sing.

The audience start to arrive for the first outing

of Gareth's school choirs in a decade.

You don't need to cry this time.

I shall try not to. I'm used to it now.

In your mind's eye,

they're still year eight, year nine, year ten

and then you come and they're like...grown-up men, you know!

It may not be the Royal Albert Hall or the Choir Olympics,

but it's still a public performance.

Nervous.

Er, it's been a long time since I've sang in front of an audience.

Last time it was, 5,000 people?

And this one will be more intimate, more personal,

so I think this one will be more scary for me, actually.

I'd like to hope that we can pull it off.

SHE LAUGHS

Hello, everyone!

It's time for the performance, please take your seats.

Choir to the front, please.

-Hello, everyone. Good evening.

-ALL:

-Hello!

Hello, welcome, welcome to the school reunion choir.

It really means a lot to me to know that you

care about what happened in your schools

enough to come here today and celebrate

what we did almost ten years ago.

-So, would you like to hear them sing?

-ALL:

-Yes!

Good. We have a song for you, it is called Hold Back The River,

and it's by James Bay.

PIANO

# Tried to keep

# You close to me

# But life got in between

# Hold back the river Let me look in your eyes

# Hold back the river so I...

# Can stop for a minute

# And see where you hide

# Hold back the river, hold back...

# Lonely water

# Lonely water

# Won't you let us wander?

# Let us hold each other!

# Lonely water

# Lonely water

# Won't you let us wander?

# Let us hold each other!

# Oh, oh, oh...

# Oh-ho, oh-ho...

# Oh-ho...

# Oh-ho, oh-ho...

# Hold back the river Let me look in your eyes

-SLOW HAND CLAP

-# Hold back the river so I...

# Can stop for a minute And see where you hide

# Hold back the river, hold back...

# Oh, oh, oh...

# Oh-ho, oh-ho...

# Oh-ho, oh-ho...

# Oh... #

They didn't sound like that before, did they?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

WHISTLING

It was amazing, it was absolutely fantastic,

it went really well, I'm really proud of everybody.

It's actually a very, very touching moment.

-I think we've achieved so much in a short space of time.

-Yeah.

And you know with the boys, it feels like we've known them forever.

It's just wonderful that the joy of singing is still there

and there's this sort of bond that Gareth has

sort of brought these people together

and I think they'll always be like that.

Love them. They're so lovely.

It was really...it was everything I hoped for.

So far, Gareth has reunited two of the 14 choirs

he's set up over the past decade.

It's just made me feel very excited about the big choir reunion,

where I get EVERYONE together. What's that going to sound like?

Next time, Gareth tracks down the rest...

-Hello.

-Hello!

..and creates a choir of choirs from his very best singers

as a centrepiece for the big reunion.

This is a performance representing ten years of my life.

-It would be horrendous if I got it wrong, wouldn't it?

-OK!

Everyone, back here, let's go!

We need all the practice we can get.

I want this performance to be the best it can possibly be,

just for my own professional pride.

We've got a lot of work to do!

LAUGHTER