Military Wives Choirs are a group of British choirs formed of wives, partners and widows of British Military personnel as well as service women and veterans and are located around the UK and in several locations abroad. Formed in 2010, the choir has performed at major military events and also at the Diamond Jubilee Concert.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The Choir: Military Wives 1.2 Subsequent activities 1.3 The Military Wives Choirs Foundation 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 3 See also 4 References 5 External links History

The first choir held their first rehearsal in April 2010 in Catterick Garrison. It was the idea of two Scots Guards wives who decided, whilst their husbands deployed in Afghanistan in 2009, to put up posters at the Garrison to actively encourage and look for ladies interested in singing together, to help support and give the wives a focus whilst their husbands deployed. They engaged a well-known local music teacher and set about putting together a choir made up of Wives, Girlfriends and Service women and so the first choir was formed. A letter was written to choirmaster Gareth Malone looking for help and support with the choir; at that time he was receiving acclaim for his BBC television programme The Choir and felt that this was an idea that could be replicated. Malone then went to RMB Chivenor to start another choir there.

Following the success at Chivenor, Malone, as part of the series, formed another choir at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth. Following the broadcast of the series and the release of the single Wherever You Are, more choirs were added at CTCRM, Lympstone and HMNB Portsmouth. The five choirs of Catterick, Chivenor, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Lympstone were invited to contribute to the album In My Dreams under the name Military Wives.

The Choir: Military Wives

The Military Wives Choir formed by Gareth Malone at the Royal Marines Base Chivenor, as part of the fourth series of the BBC/Twenty Twenty television series The Choir, entitled The Choir: Military Wives. The aim of the choir was to help the wives and girlfriends of servicemen currently deployed to Afghanistan express themselves through song.[1]

As the series progressed, Malone led the Chivenor group to perform locally at the nearby town of Barnstaple, and then, alongside the choir formed at the Royal Citadel, Plymouth, at a Passing Out dinner at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and at Armed Forces Day celebrations in Plymouth. The climax of the television series was their performance of Wherever You Are at The Royal British Legion's Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on 12 November 2011, in the presence of HM The Queen.[2][3] The song was created by Paul Mealor from extracts of correspondence between the choir and their spouses in Afghanistan.[4]

Subsequent activities

Following the series, the song Wherever You Are was released as a single on 19 December 2011, with the aim of becoming the 2011 UK Singles Chart Christmas number one, a feat it achieved when it sold 556,000 copies within a week of launch (more than the rest of the top 12 combined). A section of the cost of the single was donated to the Royal British Legion and the SSAFA Forces Help charities.[5][6][7]

The success of the television series and the Christmas single led the five established choirs being approached to contribute to an album. The album, entitled In My Dreams after the lead single, was released in early March 2012, and went to top the album chart in the UK within a week,[8] with £1 from each album sale going towards the Military Wives Choirs Foundation. The foundation has the aim to support the founding of Military Wives' choirs across the UK. Nicky Clarke, co-founder of The Military Wives Choir Foundation, whose original idea and dream to have a choir on every base was gaining momentum, wrote in her note on the album cover, "It is music which gives us strength, hope, courage, support, laughter and friendship, often when it is most needed".

The choir performed at the opening of the Olympic Stadium in London[9] when ten choirs contributed to the Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber single written to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. This single, entitled Sing features voices and instruments from across the Commonwealth and features the Military Wives as the backing track and representing the UK.[10][11]

The second album Stronger Together, produced by Jon Cohen in July 2012, was recorded by over 700 ladies from 24 Military Wives Choirs. The original five of Catterick, Chivenor, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Lympstone, were joined by another nineteen; Abingdon, Ayios Nikolaos (Cyprus), Chicksands, Condor, Culdrose, Defence Academy, Dishforth, Herford (Germany), JHQ, Marchwood, Marham, Middle Wallop, Salisbury Plain, Shawbury, Shorncliffe, Warminster, Wattisham, West of Scotland and Wimbish. On 13 September over 650 ladies from the 24 choirs recorded the Stronger Together video in London for release on 5 November 2012. Nicky Clarke wrote on the album cover... "Stronger Together really does sum up this year (2012) we've brought together women from all over the Military Community, in their own choirs, on-line, at the Jubilee and now on this album and still the choirs continue to grow. This is a testament to every woman in the Military Community – they are strong, resourceful women who support their loved ones when they're away".

October 2012 saw more success for The Military Wives Choir winning Classical Brits single of the year, they performed Sing live at the Royal Albert Hall with Gareth Malone, Gary Barlow and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Then in November Jonjo Kerr returned from his tour of duty in Afghanistan to sing with representatives from the four choirs of Catterick, Chivenor, Lympstone, Portsmouth and Plymouth who originally recorded In My Dreams and performed at the Festival of Remembrance altogether, live for the first time.

December 2012 saw the Military Wives Choirs round off a whirlwind year with representatives of the choirs singing as part of the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day.

In December 2015, the Military Wives Choirs came together with Walking With The Wounded to produce the single I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) for the ‘Walking Home for Christmas’ campaign. The track is a festive recording of The Proclaimers’ hit song I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) and all proceeds from the single were donated to Walking With The Wounded and The Military Wives Choirs Foundation.

February 2016 saw legendary singer Lulu team up with the Military Wives Choirs for the single ‘Cry’. The song was inspired by Lulu’s diagnosis of PTSD from the violence she experienced throughout her childhood and the affinity it helped her to feel with soldiers suffering from the same issue, albeit from different circumstances. Lulu generously donated all of the proceeds to the Military Wives Choir Foundation charity. The Military Wives Choirs also joined Lulu on her thirty five date UK tour throughout March and April to perform the single. This is something which had never been done before by a mainstream artist and the Choirs were thrilled to be involved in.

In November 2016, the Military Wives Choirs came together for their biggest project yet, ‘Home for Christmas’. Recorded in ten different locations, the album includes over 1,000 ladies from 63 choirs across the UK and overseas and can all be heard on the title track Home for Christmas. The album also features six classic carols which have been updated with lyrics reflecting what Christmas means to women in the military community. Produced by BMG and steered by three accomplished choral conductors - Hilary Davan Wetton, Will Dawes and Mark De-Lisser, the Military Wives Choirs’ beautiful collection of songs embodies the true spirit of Christmas – its religious significance, love, family and harmony. The album was accompanied by a Cathedral tour through the UK, which involved 17 different choirs.

The Military Wives Choirs are currently recording an album to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War I, conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton, with music by a number of composers including Joanna L’Estrange, Alexander L’Estrange and Owain Park. The album is funded by a Libor grant [12] and by a PledgeMusic campaign[13].

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