The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Gareth Malone
Caird Hall, Dundee, June 1
Best known for inspiring the nation to sing, choirmaster Gareth Malone brings his own brand of musical entertainment to Dundee next weekend.
Gareth, 42, the man behind BBC shows The Choir and Pitch Battle, is having a rare “slow morning” relaxing in his London home after a busy first day filming for a new series. The details of that project are under wraps, but fans of the choirmaster will be delighted to hear that he will be back on our screens in the near future. He is also just about to take his third tour on the road and is looking forward to his first visit to Dundee and the Caird Hall.
“I’ve heard that it’s called Fundee now,” he says, perhaps wondering what had gone before. The live performance will see Gareth joined on stage by close harmony group The Swingles along with some special guests with a local connection. “We have three very special guests in Dundee,” he explains, “We have got Scot Soul from Pitch Battle last year – they are a five piece who are going to be doing an Ed Sheeran song with me.
“Then we have also got Got Soul, who are a really fun gospel outfit, it really lifts it. The show is so much better when we have local choirs.”
Gareth is also looking forward to being reunited with Sam Stevenson, the original military wife, who sang the solo at The Royal Albert Hall. Sam, who grew up in Perth, will be singing with The Swingles.
“We haven’t actually sung together since 2011, and she is nervous but she will be great and it will be lovely for people to see her again,” enthuses Gareth.
“The show has a really nice combination of songs and of course there is loads of joining in, lots of singing along. My favourite moment in the show is when we write a song about the area or something special to the audience. It always goes down really well and I normally have the whole audience on their feet and doing actions – it’s great fun.”
Music has been a huge part of Gareth’s life ever since he can remember. He grew up in Bournemouth in a family with Irish roots and says: “It was a very musical house, very much a place where people thought that singing was the normal thing to do.”
He loves to pass that passion for music on and his stage show features sections where he will teach the audience a line so that they can take part in the performance. These are the moments that seem to appeal most to the choirmaster and his fans. “It never ceases to amaze me what an effect music can have,” he says, “I was doing something recently where we were using music in that therapeutic sense and you look at the faces of the people who are singing and they’re having a really profound experience. It’s a very personal business music, it just sort of touches your soul.”