User:Quieying/Ashley Morrison

Ashley Morrison (born Salisbury, 1964) is a sports presenter, freelance journalist, documentary filmmaker, author and devoted Swindon Town F.C.. He is best known for his television appearances in programmes such as The Choir which focus on singing and introducing choral music to new participants.

Biography
Gareth Malone was educated at Bournemouth School, and studied drama at the University of East Anglia, Norwich where he was in the university choir and composed music for theatre productions. After graduating he did private tuition and then applied for a postgraduate course at The Royal Academy of Music. He passed with distinction in 2005.

Working at the LSO he was awarded the position of Edward Heath Assistant Animateur in 2001. He got into television work when approached by 20/20, the production company who wanted to make a series about singing in schools. Not having any idea on who could front the programme they had googled "community choirmasters" and discovered Malone’s name. Subsequently The Choir has become incredibly successful, winning two BAFTAs and a Broadcast award.

Until December 2009, Malone worked for the London Symphony Orchestra at LSO St Luke's where he ran their youth choir and community choir.

On 31 December 2009, Gareth conducted the first New Year's Eve Twitter Community Choir performance of Auld Lang Syne. He asked his followers on Twitter, and friends on Facebook, to join in with the event.

His latest project was as chorus master for The Knight Crew, a youth opera based on a book written by Nicky Singer and performed at Glyndebourne opera house. After choosing approximately 50 cast out of over 400 applicants between the ages of 14-20 through workshops and auditions, and months of rehearsals, The Knight Crew was performed at Glyndebourne between 3 and 6 March 2010. The project was filmed for a television series, Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne and aired on the BBC on 1 July 2010.

In May 2010 Malone was awarded the Freedom of the City of London by Nick Anstee, Lord Mayor of the City of London in recognition of his music education work in London.

His first book Music for the People: A Journey through the Pleasures and Pitfalls of Classical Music was published on 28 April 2011.

Television work
Gareth Malone's television appearances began in 2007 with his reality television series The Choir, broadcast on BBC Two. The series focussed on teaching choral singing to people who have no experience of singing, with the first programme set in a comprehensive school. Subsequent follow-ups continued the theme by taking choral music to challenging situations; Boys Don't Sing (2008) featured pupils at a boys' school who were reluctant to sing, and the third series, entitled Unsung Town, featured the formation of a community choir in South Oxhey, a suburban town where singing was not a current activity.

Malone's television appearances include to date:


 * The Choir (BBC Two series, 2007)
 * The Choir: Boys Don't Sing (BBC Two series, 2008)
 * The Choir: Unsung Town (BBC Two series, 2009)
 * How a Choir Works (BBC Four single documentary, 2009)
 * Never Mind the Buzzcocks, (panel show guest 2009)
 * Sport Relief 2010, (Guest - conducted the Olympic Choir)
 * Shanties and Sea Songs with Gareth Malone on BBC Four, 7 May 2010
 * Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne (BBC Two series, June 2010)
 * Extraordinary School for Boys (BBC Two series, September 2010)
 * The Big Performance (CBBC, 2010)
 * ''The Choir does Comic Relief 2011 (training celebrity chefs)

The Choir: Unsung Town series were also broadcasted by NHK Educational TV and NHK BS1 (NHK衛星第1テレビジョン) (NHK Broadcasting Satellite Television 1) in Japan in 2010.

Personal life
Malone is married to Becky, an English teacher and they live in north-west London. Their daughter, Esther, was born on 22 September 2010.