The nation’s keenest community choirs and amateur singers unite to sing for the King

It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that we’re gearing up for a truly historic weekend. On Saturday, May 6, King Charles III will be crowned, and then on Sunday, the celebrations will continue with the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle.

The confirmed performers so far include Take That, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli, Sir Bryn Terfel, Freya Ridings and Alexis Ffrench.

But there will also be an appearance by the 300-strong Coronation Choir, a diverse group created from the nation’s keenest community choirs and amateur singers from across the United Kingdom.

To find out just how the choir was assembled, the documentary Sing for the King takes us behind the scenes of the process.

As you might expect, Britain’s most famous choirmaster, Gareth Malone, is involved in putting them through their paces.

He made his TV debut in the 2007 documentary The Choir, which saw him teaching choral singing to teenagers at a West London comprehensive. The format – and Malone – proved such a hit, he went on to work his magic on more amateur singing groups, including The Choir: Military Wives, which spawned a Christmas Number 1 single.

However, it seems the job of forming a Coronation Choir was too big for one man, so this time he’s being assisted by some more celebrity mentors.

They are Amanda Holden and Motsi Mabuse, who are perhaps best known for their roles as judges on Britain’s Got Talent and Strictly Come Dancing respectively. The mentors are then rounded out by former EastEnders actress and 2021 Strictly champion Rose Ayling-Ellis.

Each famous face will be drawing on their individual area of expertise as they look to inspire the inclusive choir, which will feature an all-deaf sign performance organisation.

Other singing groups featured include London cabbies, members of the Northern Irish farming community, an LGBTQ+ choir, a Gaelic choir hailing from the Western Isles of Scotland, Hull’s NHS choir, a traditional male voice choir from Caerphilly and a refugee choir, also from Wales.

There’s also Yorkshire’s only female South Asian choir, the London Fire Brigade and a troupe of RNLI sea shanty singers from Portishead.

We’ll find out what these organisations mean to their communities and why, for the members, it’s not just about singing.

But of course, there’s also a concert to prepare for, and all the amateur performers are aware that this is a once in a lifetime chance to sing their hearts out for the King and Queen Consort at the Coronation Concert, as well as the millions who will be watching around the world.

The documentary charts the Gareth, Amanda, Rose and Motsi’s efforts as they help the singers to deal with their nerves and prepare to give the performance of a lifetime.

And as the concert draws ever nearer, we’ll see the final Coronation Choir meet at Windsor Castle ready to sing together for the very first time in an emotional final rehearsal.

Then on Sunday, we’ll find out if all that hard work paid off…