I attended the April (this year) Classic FM concert (at the RAH) in which Ivor Setterfield "exhibited" his 40 strong Blackbird Leys Estate choir. I also followed the Ch5 screening over the last 4/52, and also the Classic FM broadcast yesterday evening on the radio.

I have a very great respect for Ivor as a conductor, musician and "maker of choirs". I am however a little bemused as to the real intent behind his ambtion to turn 40 residents from a troubled housing estate into a "halfway decent" choir with the ultimate goal of appearing at the RAH. Is Ivor trying to get some "street credibility" for himself in popular TV or are his motives truly altruistic? (c.f Lesley Garrett, trying to get on anything on TV from daft games shows to reality TV )

I noticed that the Ch5 programme makers conveniently forgot to mention, until almost the very end of the 4th installment (last night), that in the performance of Carmina Burana the National Youth Choir of Great Britain would also be lending a helping hand. In fact I sat in the RAH very near the front on the night in question and all I could hear coming over very loud and clear was the fantastic singing of the NYCOGB.

Later also with G4 (You'll Never Walk Alone), I admit the singing from Ivor's choir wasn't too bad, but why could they not have sung something on their own to prove they had actually achieved something for themselves.

Finally the Ch5 programme makers had to descend to the lowest common denominator of reality TV and involve a digression from the main plot where McEnzie is whisked off to 'Wormwood Scrubs' for an emotional re-union with her "inmate" boyfriend. Was this really necessary?

What happens now?. Will Ivor's Choir be thrown out on to the scrap heap along with all the other "Pop Idol"; 'X-Factor', 'Big Brother' emotional cripples. Will Ivor even bother to keep in touch with them, send them Christmas cards, enquire after them. I think not. It was just an experiment, that gave a TV exposure boost for Ivor's profile.

I didn't watch it after the first bit as it seemed to be, as you said, television creation. Since people have started quesitoning why they're frittering their lives in front of a television set, the media have fretted to invent devices to engage people more, hence the idea of viewer voting so that they feel involved and partly responsible for outcomes and other things.

I think I'd have been quite upset if I'd watched these actual performances. One is a long time dead so I don't want to waste what life I have!

Ws

I watched the odd 10 minutes here and there from the series, and most of the final concert the other night.

I have to say I found the whole concept just a little patronising, epitomised by the playing of "Fanfare For The Common Man" at the start of the concert.

I only saw the last 20 minutes of last nights programme but it did mention on the credits that the choir have some funding to continue and will be taking part in another concert in February.
I don't know why Ivor did it but it did appear to give some of the individuals concerned faith in their own ability to achieve in life, which I hope will stay with them. to me it doesn't matter that they were supported by the NYCofGM or that they were supporting G4 it was a great achievement and they can be justly proud of themselves.

I agree ,some of the presentation could have been better, but thought that these people captured the spirit of what they did remarkably well. Besides, when I sang with a choral society, we always had a (well mainly ) professonal Orchestra and the possilbe support of other choirs. Good luck to them !

Whilst I have quite a few reservations about the 'experiment' , for the people taking part it was a fantastic achievement, and I congratulate them. The emotionally charged atmosphere and their enthusiasm was there for all to see. From this point of view Ivor has given them something, and I hope they are able to continue. But yes it was experimental, but I cant really believe Ivor was doing it for his own 'promotion'.

I watched the first one and half the second but it was awful. So much of it was put on for the cameras. Why pick such a difficult piece would be my question? I wouldn't expect anyone of their abilities to get a lot of enjoyment from struggling with O Fortuna! Plus, there's more to learning to be a choir than just learning to sing. What about working as a team? This is certainly something they didn't seem to be able to do. They spent so much of the time arguing - they were intent on individual glory as opposed to seeing the greater good.

David

My return to choral singing after a break of 30 years ( I last sang at school) was with St Bartholemews Hospital choir in London, conducted by Ivor. It was brilliant. He is passionate about getting the best from his singers, and inspiring.

The singing Estate was a bit cheezy, and I felt a bit cheated at first when they revealed that the choir were supported by others in the final performance, but in my opinion it had to be so - the Albert Hall is a big space to fill and needs a big choir. St Barts was 300 strong, and I'm not sure we managed to fill it with sound!

Ivor and the choir achieved a lot.

I think the programme showed that singing can be open to all, and that amatuer voices can make beautiful music. The experience for the choir was obviously profound, and if the programme has steered even a few people towards the joy that is singing with others, then it was certainly worthwhile.

While I thought parts of the programme made interesting viewing, a lot of it felt quite uncomfortable. Particularly I disliked the competitive element between the choir members - all that mini drama re the covers - would they/ wouldn't they be allowed to sing in the final concert? Surely they shouldn't have travelled down to the RAH, done the final rehearsal, had costumes fitted etc only to be told they had to watch? Of course, they were all allowed to sing - but the whole mini-drama made Ivor seem a bit of a control freak.
He clearly has a certain amount of charisma, but on TV he came over as unsufferably egocentric, even for a conductor.