Gareth Malone OBE, born in 1975, is an English choirmaster and broadcaster. He is best known for his involvement in the television programme ‘The Choir’, which introduces choral music to people who have never had the chance to sing before.
Gareth moved from London to Bournemouth when he was ten years old and it was here that he became interested in choirs.
He sang with the Symphony Chorus of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and then went on to study drama at the University of East Anglia.
After graduating, he auditioned for a postgraduate course at The Royal Academy of Music in London and passed with distinction in 2005.
During this time, he was also working with the London Symphony Orchestra as ‘Edward Heath Assistant Animateur.’ This involved helping with school visits, education projects and concert presenting.
Until December 2009, Gareth worked for the London Symphony Orchestra at LSO St Luke's where he ran their youth choir and community choir.
He’s best known for his involvement with TV series ‘The Choir.’ The programme sees Gareth attempt to start choirs from scratch with people who have never had the chance to sing before (for example school pupils and military wives.) There have now been four series and the programme has won BAFTAs, an RTS and a Broadcast award.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to music.
Did you know?
Gareth has written two books: ‘Music for the People’ an introduction to classical music and ‘Choir: Tears, Triumphs and Transformations’, a look behind the scenes of The Choir TV series.
