The Singing Estate

The Singing Estate

infobox television
show_name = The Singing Estate


rating = TV-PG, TV-14
format = Constructed documentary
runtime = 60 mins / 45 mins
creator =
starring =
country = UK
filmed = Oxford, Liverpool and London
network = Five
first_aired = 11 June 2006
last_aired = 2 July 2006
num_episodes = 4 x 60 mins / 5 x 45 mins
website = www.five.tv/thesingingestate
imdb_id =
tv_com_id =

"The Singing Estate" was a four-part constructed documentary series made by North One Television for Five and FiveArts Cities in the UK, shot from January 2006 to April 2006 and transmitted from 11 June to 2 July 2006. On the Blackbird Leys estate, in Oxford, conductor Ivor Setterfield auditioned 140 hopeful amateur singers, eventually picking 40 for 'Ivor's Choir' as they were then known. The aim was to teach these singers, many of whom did not read music, several well-known pieces for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall three months later.

The programme followed the audition process in some depth, showing hopefuls and the hopeless, and Ivor's reaction to them. After the choir line-up was finalised, with some singers held in reserve, they began their public career with a performance of "The Wild Rover" at an Oxford United home game. In subsequent programmes they learned new pieces including Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana"; visited Italy, where they sang "O Sole Mio" with Italian tenor Franco Malapena; held a marquee concert in Blackbird Leys (singing Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus); travelled to Liverpool, where they rehearsed with a full orchestra for the first time and finally went to London for the big performance. Shortly before performance day they were surprised with the news that they would be singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" with popular classical vocal group G4. The concert took place on 20 April 2006, and was recorded for radio broadcast by Classic FM, and partially included in the tv series.

After the end of filming in April 2006, the choir's future was uncertain, but a core section of members wanted to continue and the re-named Blackbird Leys Choir began rehearsing again in September 2006 for planned performances in Oxford on 14 February (BMW) and 24 February 2007 (the Sheldonian Theatre), including a piece written specially for the choir by minimalist composer Orlando Gough. Funding and support for the rest of the year has been supplied by FiveArts Cities (a collaboration between Channel Five and Arts Council England) and Oxford Contemporary Music, with some donation of sheet music from Oxford University Press.

HM Queen Elizabeth II had been a fan of the programme, requesting DVD copies of the show to watch, and on 19 December 2006 the choir were invited to perform Christmas carols at an 'Achievers of the Year' reception at Buckingham Palace (other invited guests including David Walliams, Thandie Newton, William Fox-Pitt, and Zara Phillips). The choir performed carols for arriving guests for half an hour, and then sang the "Hallelujah" chorus in a private performance for the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Zara Phillips and boyfriend Mike Tindall, and a small selection of guests. The choir's performance was filmed and will appear in the follow-up documentary; portions of it, and interviews with choir members, appeared on Channel Five news on 19 December 2006 and 20 December 2006.

On 14 January 2007, the choir took part in Oxford Sings, a day-long workshop and performance of the "Hallelujah" chorus with approximately 400 other singers from around Oxfordshire. The rehearsals and performance were filmed by North One Television, and the performance recorded for broadcast the same day on BBC Radio Oxford.

The series is scheduled to be repeated from 27 February 2007, weekly at 7.15pm, as a series of 5 x 45 minute episodes with the fifth episode showing what has happened to members of the choir since the original series was filmed.

References

* [http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/2/20/91298.html Oxford Mail 20th February 2006]
* [http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/4/10/93037.html Oxford Mail 10th April 2006]
* [http://www.five.tv/programmes/thesingingestate/ Five TV - The Singing Estate]
* [http://www.ocmevents.org/eventcd/five.htm FiveArts Cities]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815078/ IMDB - The Singing Estate]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/06/10/bvfrieze10.xml&sSheet=/arts/2006/06/10/ixartright.html Daily Telegraph, 10th June 2006]
* [http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/12/16/120726.html Oxford Mail 16th December 2006]
* [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5720.asp Buckingham Palace December 2006]
* [http://archive.theoxfordtimes.net/2006/12/22/121717.html Oxford Times 22nd December 2006]
* [http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.1118551.0.hundreds_on_song_for_special_concert.php Oxford Mail 12th January 2007]
* [http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/tiooxmail/display.var.1122431.0.500_gather_for_hymn_of_praise.php Oxford Mail 15th January 2007]
* [http://www.oxfordshire2007.co.uk/listings/showevent.asp?Event=60 February 2007 concert]

External links

* [http://www.five.tv/programmes/thesingingestate/ "The Singing Estate"] at five.tv
*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Young and the Restless minor characters — The following are characters from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless who are notable for their actions or relationships, but who do not warrant their own articles. Contents 1 Current Characters 1.1 Genevieve …   Wikipedia

  • The Sound of Music (film) — The Sound of Music Original poster by Howard Terpning Directed by Robert Wise Produced b …   Wikipedia

  • The Doors (film) — The Doors Theatrical release poster Directed by Oliver Stone Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • The Twelve Days of Christmas (song) — The Twelve Days of Christmas Roud #68 Music by Traditional with additions by Frederic Austin Published c. 1780 Language English; may be French in origin Form Cumulative song The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol that… …   Wikipedia

  • The Alvin Show — Title card from The Alvin Show. Format Animated series Created by Ross Bagdasarian …   Wikipedia

  • The Pirate Movie — is a 1982 musical and comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol. The film is loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan s comic opera The Pirates of Penzance . The original music score is composed by Mike… …   Wikipedia

  • The Spiderwick Chronicles — This article is about the novel series. For the feature film adaptation, see The Spiderwick Chronicles (film). The Spiderwick Chronicles Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles Cover of The Spiderwick Chronicles Boxed Set, 2004 T …   Wikipedia

  • The Catherine Tate Show characters — Contents 1 Main characters 1.1 Joannie Nan Taylor 1.2 Lauren Cooper 1 …   Wikipedia

  • The Haunted Mansion (film) — Infobox Film name=The Haunted Mansion caption = Theatrical poster for The Haunted Mansion imdb id=0338094 amg id = 1:283306 writer=David Berenbaum starring=Eddie Murphy Jennifer Tilly Terence Stamp Marsha Thomason Nathaniel Parker director=Rob… …   Wikipedia

  • The Beverly Hillbillies — For the 1993 film, see The Beverly Hillbillies (film). The Beverly Hillbillies b w title screen Format sitcom Created by …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”