The Choir of Hard Knocks

rdf:langString The Choir of Hard Knocks

rdf:langString Choir of Hard Knocks

rdf:langString Choir of Hard Knocks

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rdf:langString Pop rock

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rdf:langString classical

rdf:langString Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

rdf:langString * Jonathon Welch

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rdf:langString In 2005 FremantleMedia Australia producer Jason Stephens brought the idea of a television series called the Choir of Hard Knocks to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In an interview on Australian Story by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Stephens said "I'd always been quite fascinated by choirs. Living in Melbourne during that time 2005 the homelessness problem was more obvious, I guess. And I kind of thought it would be interesting to put those two ideas together to see if we could make a choir out of homeless and disadvantaged people." The ABC and Fremantle chose Reclink, a charity that had worked with homeless people in the past, as the charity that would work with the television construct and cast the choir conductor Jonathon Welch. The five-part Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary TV series of the same name, broadcast weekly from May 2007 and released two albums, Choir of Hard Knocks: the Voice of RecLink (26 May 2007), which peaked at No. 21 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and Songs of Hope and Inspiration (7 December 2007), which reached No. 39. A DVD of the series also titled, Choir of Hard Knocks: the Voice of RecLink, was issued in August. A second series in November 2007 followed the choir members preparing for a concert at the Sydney Opera House. In April 2009 the choir was replaced by the Choir of Hope and Inspiration after a falling-out between Welch and RecLink.