Coming soon: Gareth's Great British Christmas Album

Gareth as a child

HO' MALONE! The Nation's Favourite Choirmaster GARETH MALONE travels the country to capture the sound of 'A Great British Christmas' for brand new album

Gareth Malone is embarking on a journey around the UK, bringing together musicians from local communities for his new album, A Great British Christmas, which will be released on Decca on 2nd December 2016.

The nation's favourite choirmaster will conduct recording sessions with a variety of musicians in different locations over the next three weeks - from Perranarworthal Handbell Ringers in Cornwall, to the Hornsey Girls School Steel Pans Band in London, and the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band in West Yorkshire. It will be Gareth's first Christmas album, and aims to unite the country through music.

Gareth Malone is looking forward to starting work on the album:
"I'm delighted to be bringing together musicians from all over the country for this new recording project, which offers and fresh take on traditional festive tunes and celebrates the unique sound of a British Christmas."

The album will feature contributions from stars including Ricky Wilson on the track 'Paradise Street', Fyfe Dangerfield on 'Silent Night' and Welsh harpist Catrin Finch on 'Walking in the Air'.

Gareth will also be doing what he does best - working with a host of singers, including the London Youth Choir, Belfast Community Gospel Choir, Birmingham Gospel Choir, plus the Invictus Choir in a rendition of the Dire Straits classic 'Brothers in Arms'. His own choir, Voices, can be heard singing on every track‎ apart from one - 'Only You' - which features Gareth's own voice, stacked up to form a choir!

The album will include a mixture of winter favourites, including the music to Frozen, plus traditional Christmas songs in new arrangements, and even a performance of Gareth's own carol 'A Child is Born' - the first piece he ever wrote. It was composed by a young Gareth while he was still at school and his old music teacher shares the writing credit.

Gareth's busy recording schedule begins in Belfast, before he travels to Truro, London, Birmingham and Glasgow. He will also be recording a special session in Coed Eva Primary School in Wales - an infant school which was burnt down in an arson attack on New Year's Eve.

Gareth Malone's ambitious new project offers a brand new take on Christmas - and by bringing together communities and celebrities from around the UK, 'A Great British Christmas' already looks to be a festive treat.

Gareth's new album A Great British Christmas will be released on Decca Records on 2nd December.

Gareth's Best In Britain - The Choir is back!

Gareth Malone OBE returns with brand new series for BBC  Two

 THE CHOIR: GARETH'S BEST IN BRITAIN 
Tuesday 25 October 9pm on BBC Two

Britain's favourite choirmaster is on the hunt for the U.K.'s most entertaining amateur singing group.


The nation's favourite choirmaster, Gareth Malone O.B.E. - at the heart of award-winning series like Sing While You Work and The Choir: Military Wives - returns with a brand new show for BBC Two, THE CHOIR: GARETH'S BEST IN BRITAIN.


The series follows Gareth as he travels the length and breadth of the U.K., from the Scottish Highlands to the Channel Isles, scouring the country to find Britain's most entertaining amateur choir.

Having crowned the nation's most entertaining amateur a cappella group in last year's hugely successful The Naked Choir with Gareth Malone, this year Gareth is opening up his contest to groups from all musical traditions.  Whether they're gospel groups or school choirs, sea shanty bands, university singers or collectives made up of pensioners, all are united by a passion for music and performance.

Gareth Malone said: "I'm thrilled to bring a fresh search for the musical rough diamonds among the British public to BBC2. Having discovered the best a cappella groups the nation has to offer last year, this series goes one step further, pitting groups from all types of music head to head."


Gareth will audition a diverse mix of groups and choirs in towns, cities and villages across the country, before selecting four to go head-to-head in the contest stages of the series, each representing a different part of the U.K.


He'll work with the four handpicked groups, offering his expert guidance, advice and encouragement, before they perform in front of a live audience and a jury of musical experts, who'll vote on which choir they found most entertaining.  In the semi-final, the choir with the fewest votes will be eliminated.


In the grand final, the three choirs left standing will compete to receive the most votes from the invited jury.  Vocal prowess alone won't secure the title – the competition will be fierce and groups must find the extra entertainment factor to secure victory. The choir who emerges triumphant in the grand final will receive the honorary title of Britain's most entertaining amateur choir.


Gareth Malone has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award and numerous other accolades for his previous series, and he was awarded an O.B.E. for his services to music in 2012.  He has quickly become a national treasure thanks to his ability to nurture otherwise hidden musical talent from a broad demographic of the British public.  In 2011, the singers Gareth brought together in The Choir: Military Wives secured the U.K.'s Christmas number one, with the single Where You Are.  His most recent series, Gareth's Invictus Choir - following his efforts to assemble and mentor a choir of wounded ex-service personnel for a performance at the opening of The Invictus Games - drew widespread acclaim.

THE CHOIR: GARETH'S BEST IN BRITAIN is a Twenty Twenty Television production; the series producer is Zoe Page and the executive producer is Lee McMurray.


THE CHOIR: GARETH'S BEST IN BRITAIN will be on BBC Two this autumn.

NHS Choir for No 1!

The race for this year's Official Christmas Number 1 is going right down to the wire, as the NHS Choir is now just a handful of sales behind Justin Bieber! 

Read more

The song was originally produced in 2012 following the choir’s appearance with Gareth Malone on the BBC2 programme Sing While You Work. 

You can download the NHS Choir song "Bridge over You" from www.nhsno1.com

Llangollen Eisteddfod 2015

Choir of the World with Gareth Malone

Côr y Byd gyda Gareth Malone

 
Gareth Malone and his Voices choir will perform at this year's Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on Saturday 11 July.  They will perform their own material conducted by Gareth and will also join together with the international choirs for a very special joint performance.


Every summer since 1947 Llangollen has been host to more than 4,000 performers from across the globe. They come to North Wales to take part in a unique event which combines competition, performance, and international peace and friendship. The Choir of the World competition has become the showpiece climax, with performers competing to win the coveted Pavarotti Trophy.

Llangollen Tickets

Llangollen Tickets (Cymraeg)

Voices at Latitude 2015

Gareth and his choir 'Voices' will be performing this year at the Latitude summer festival in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, 16^th-19^th July.

Gareth Malone will be putting together a unique choir of Latitude festival goers. Ticket holders will have the opportunity to apply to be part of this 100-strong group who will rehearse at several points over the weekend, culminating in a Main Stage lunchtime performance on Sunday 19th July. In addition, Gareth and his Voices choir will be performing on the Waterfront Stage on Saturday 18th July.

This is your opportunity to work and perform with the nation's favourite choirmaster and make your own festival appearance with Gareth Malone's Latitude Choir! 

Details of how to apply for the choir will be available on the Latitude website soon

Book Latitude tickets here

The New Military Wives

The Military Wives are back!

It is three years since Gareth formed the first Military Wives choir, and since then the Military Wives Choirs organisation has mushroomed with over 80 choirs and 2,000 members around the globe.

This BBC documentary follows choirmaster Gareth Malone as he forms a 100-strong Military Wives super-choir to perform at a special BBC Proms Concert to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War. The women are to sing with the National Theatre's War Horse team in an emotionally engaged performance at the BBC Proms.

Watch Episode 1 on the BBC iPlayer now

Episode 2 will air on BBC Two on Christmas Eve at 8:30pm

NUMBER ONE!

Fantastic news - Wake Me Up, the Official Children in Need single has gone into the UK singles chart at NUMBER ONE!

Many, many thanks to everyone who made this possible - not least to everyone in the All Star Choir for making this possible - but also to all of you who bought this single and made it such a success. Friday night's Children in Need event raised £32.6 million to help disadvantaged children and young people in the UK, and all the proceeds from Wake Me Up will be added to this total. Thank you, thank you everyone for making this possible.

Where the money goes - find out more about the amazing projects being supported by Children in Need.