The Singing Estate

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; 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.