The Choir: Boys Don't Sing
Season 1
Gareth Malone, a choir master, believes in the therapeutic benefits of singing. He takes on a nine month challenge of creating a choir at Lancaster School, an English boys school comprised of students in their early teens. The school is known primarily for its sports program, with no recent history of organized singing at the school. As such, Gareth has to start from the very beginning. There is much initial resistance from the student body. There are some boys who do sing in organized choirs, but have previously hidden that fact from their fellow students. There are some boys who need this opportunity to become more socialized regardless of their musical ability or lack thereof. And there are some boys who are vocally gifted but do not see the choir as something they want to do. Gareth needs to overcome all of these obstacles, and some external chorus adjudicators, to achieve his end goal of having a 100 strong boys choir perform at a prestigious by invitation only youth musical event at Royal Albert Hall.
Where to Watch Season 1
5 Episodes
- Episode 3E3
Episode 3Gareth gives the choir the goal of performing at the famed Royal Albert Hall. The choir must be assessed before they are invited to perform and to make matters worse his choir member numbers are dwindling. He solicits a group of "schoolyard MCs" to try to influence the popular kids. - Episode 4E4
Episode 4Gareth has the choir's sights set on performing at the Royal Albert Hall and wins over some of the most resistant boys by showing them that choirs can be "cool." He also makes a push to try and have singing become a lasting staple in the school's repertoire for many years to come. - RevisitedE5
RevisitedIn 2007, choirmaster Gareth Malone took a teaching position at one of the largest all-boys comprehensives in the country. He wanted to prove that singing could be a positive and enjoyable activity for boys. When Gareth arrived at the school, singing was a dirty word, but over two terms Gareth battled entrenched attitudes, building up a 100-strong choir from nothing, until they were good enough to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. Now, exactly one year after he left, Gareth returns to the school to catch up with his former choir members and see if his time there had any permanent impact.