29 March 2010
The Choir’s Gareth Malone receives Freedom of the City of
London
Gareth Malone, the choir master best known for presenting BBC2’s
The Choir, will receive the Freedom of the City of London at
Guildhall on Monday 10 May.
His ceremony will begin with an oath of allegiance and end by
him being greeted as a ‘Citizen of London’ and the presentation of
his framed Freedom certificate. After the ceremony, Gareth and his
guests will attend a private lunch at Guildhall.
Gareth, who studied Drama at the University of East Anglia
Norwich and a post-graduate course at the Royal Academy of Music,
was trained as a Music Animateur in 2000 by the London Symphony
Orchestra (which is one of the principal beneficiary charities of
this year’s Lord Mayor’s Appeal) to deliver music workshops in
schools and the local community. In 2003, when LSO St Luke’s
opened, Gareth took on the LSO St Luke’s Community Choir and Youth
Choir, both of which have performed at the Barbican Centre, which
is owned and funded by the City of London Corporation.
The Choir, which was first broadcast in 2006, followed
Gareth as he went into schools across the country to encourage
children to form - and sing in - a choir. The Choir ran to
three series and won two BAFTAs, an RTS and Broadcast award. His
new series, Gareth Goes to Glyndebourne, will be broadcast
on BBC2 later this year. Speaking before his Freedom ceremony,
Gareth said:
- “I'm delighted and honoured to be invited to become a Freeman
of the City of London. I started working in the City during 2001
and I've had a close association with the area ever since, through
my work with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Barbican
Centre.
- “Since my first visits to concerts in the Barbican as a child
in the 1980s, the City has filled me with excitement and over the
last nine years, I've enjoyed performing in churches and
performance venues in the area, as well as working with the young
people and communities of the City of London. I look forward to
furthering my work in the future.”
Nick Anstee, Lord Mayor of the City of London, said:
- "Gareth’s efforts to enthuse, often, shy or very reluctant,
young people to take up singing in their schools’ choirs are a joy
to watch and I am very happy to sponsor his Freedom. It’s clear to
anyone who has seen ‘The Choir’ that he relishes the
challenges involved and the wonderful results that he
gets.”
The Freedom of the City of London is believed to have begun in
1237 and enabled recipients to carry out their trade and today,
people are nominated for, or apply for, the Freedom, because it
offers them a link to the historic City of London and one of its
ancient traditions. Many of the traditional privileges associated
with the Freedom, including driving sheep over London Bridge and
being drunk and disorderly in the City without fear of arrest, no
longer exist.
Ends
Notes to editors
Press photographers and journalists wishing to attend the
post-ceremony photo call with Gareth Malone at Guildhall, EC2, from
12.20pm to 12.40pm are asked to contact Andrew
Buckingham (see below) at the City of London’s Press Office.
- Press enquiries:
Andrew Buckingham, Press Officer (Features), City of London
Corporation
Tel 020 7332 1452 / Mobile 07795 333 060
Email
andrew.buckingham@cityoflondon.gov.uk
- About the City of London Corporation:
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse organisation.
It supports and promotes the City as the world leader in
international finance and business services and provides local
services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting
the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the
nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School
of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and
London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education provision
(including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including
Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court
at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including
Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food
markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the
Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with
neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and
the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to
charity annually.