The Choir: Military Wives

February, 2011. Choirmaster Gareth Malone has just moved temporarily to Devon for eight months so that he can start a choir comprised of wives and common law partners of military men who trained at local bases and who have just been deployed to Afghanistan for six months. He admits he knows nothing about the military, but believes singing in a communal setting can provide strength and support to a group of women who could use such empowerment. Gareth arrives at the Royal Marines Base Chivenor three weeks before deployment, with his first impressions being that many of the wives will relish the fact of being preoccupied by doing something to keep their minds off their absent husbands, but that certain challenges exist, such as getting over the hierarchy that not only exists within the military ranks but which transfer to the wives' personal lives on base, and getting over the fact that their lives on the base are by their very nature temporary, which includes having only temporary friendships. The first rehearsal takes place immediately after deployment, which makes the base feel like a ghost town, and which plays heavily on the minds of the women. After the first rehearsal, Gareth likes the potential the women display but is surprised at how timid they as a group are, which he attributes to them literally not having a voice on the base. Gareth feels he needs to find the singing leaders to bring the others along. He also wants to foster that discipline that the husbands have in the military lives. As a group, he wants the choir to be both an integral part of the base, yet also be an integral part of the surrounding community. Because of the very temporary and short term nature of their lives on the base, Gareth feels he needs to throw them into the deep end performance wise, which also includes finding the choir's first soloist.

As Gareth's time with the military wives winds down, the women are finding it an especially difficult time seeing that it is the tail end of their partners' six month tour of duty in Afghanistan. Gareth has two more big events planned for them at which to perform. The first, specifically for the Chivenor group, is the homecoming parade and ceremony to welcome back their returning partners. Because it is supposed to be a homecoming for the entire family, he wants the events to be joyous and to include the entire family including the children. He chooses a piece of music he hopes will inspire that joy. The second, which Gareth believes is the biggest event he himself has ever been involved with, is the annual Remembrance Day Festival organized by the Royal British Legion at Royal Albert Hall. Including the television audience estimated in the several millions, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and other members of the British royal family will be in attendance at the Hall. This event will be especially nerve-wracking for one choir member who will perform a solo. Because of the immensity of the occasion, Gareth commissions Paul Mealor, who wrote a song for Prince William of Wales and Catherine Princess of Wales's wedding, to write an original piece of music for the choir to perform. What they decide to do is to use text included with letters between the wives and their husbands to form part of the lyrics. The women hope that the tears they shed at rehearsals over the emotional nature of the song will be transferred to their audience on performance night. Through it all, one choir member learns that day-to-day life can be just as difficult as waiting for her overseas husband to return home. And before the relationship between Gareth and the wives ends, the wives have a special gift for him.