All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge

Series looking for the orchestra that best captures the spirit of great British amateur music-making in the UK, presented by Katie Derham. The series begins with five amateur orchestras from across the UK - The Slaithwaite Philharmonic from Yorkshire, The North Devon Symphonia, The London Gay Symphony Orchestra, The Stirling Orchestra and The People's Orchestra from Birmingham. Each orchestra receives a master class from the series judge, world-renowned conductor Paul Daniel, while double-bass maestro Chi-chi Nwanoku mentors each orchestra as they strive to reach their full potential. This week's challenge is to master that pinnacle of orchestral playing, the symphony. Each of the five orchestras tackle an allotted extract from the likes of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov which they then perform at the BBC's legendary Maida Vale Studios - after which one orchestra will be eliminated from the contest by Daniel.

In episode 2 the five amateur orchestras have become four - and this week the musicians get to grips with opera. It's hard enough for professional orchestras to play with opera singers - how will the cheesemakers, lupin-growers, and GCSE students of our amateur orchestras cope? Each orchestra - this week the North Devon Sinfonia, London Gay Symphony Orchestra, The People's Orchestra from Birmingham and Stirling Orchestra - get extra tuition and help from the series' judge, renowned conductor Paul Daniel, and double-bass maestro Chi-chi Nwanoku. We follow the orchestras as they attempt to do justice to the world's best loved arias, and keep up with their guest opera singers from the Royal Opera House's Jette Parker Young Artists Programme. The show culminates in performances at the renowned Halle St Peter's Hall in Manchester, after which one orchestra will be eliminated from the contest by Daniel. Presented by Proms host and last year's Strictly Come Dancing finalist Katie Derham, this series attempts to get under the skin of the real musical and personal challenges that face five amateur orchestras from across the UK as they attempt to truly come together and rise to new musical heights. Can the players master their sheet music while also getting on with their varied days jobs as farmers, supermarket workers, carers and undertakers? Who will rise to the challenge? And who will find themselves dismissed from the contest?

All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge is a four-part series to find the orchestra that best captures the spirit of great British amateur music-making in the UK. Episode 3 sees the orchestras take on another difficult musical form - the concerto, an orchestral piece featuring a virtuoso soloist. A concerto is a daunting project for any orchestra, but this time the soloist will be chosen from the orchestra's own ranks. Can they elevate one of their own and mould them into a virtuoso performer in a few short weeks? It's not just the soloists who will have to up their game. The whole orchestra will have to support and lift them to greater heights. And if that wasn't enough, the orchestras will also showcase their work at a concert that they will plan and produce themselves on their home turf. Each of the three remaining orchestras gets extra tuition and help from the series' judge, renowned conductor Paul Daniel, and the series mentor Chi-chi Nwanoku selects three world-class musicians to give our soloists individual mentoring sessions. We follow the orchestras as they rehearse and plan the concerts, and we follow the soloists as they attempt to grow into the role of virtuoso performers. The show culminates in the performances the orchestras put on themselves, after which one orchestra will be eliminated from the contest by Paul Daniel. Presented by Proms host and last year's Strictly Come Dancing finalist Katie Derham, this series attempts to get under the skin of the real musical and personal challenges that face five amateur orchestras from across the UK as they attempt to truly come together and rise to new musical heights. The five orchestras taking part are North Devon Sinfonia, London Gay Symphony Orchestra, The People's Orchestra from Birmingham, Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra and Stirling Orchestra. Can the players master their sheet music while also getting on with their varied day jobs as farmers, supermarket workers, carers and undertakers? Who will rise to the challenge, and who will find themselves dismissed from the contest?

It's The Grand Final. Months of masterclasses, mentoring and last minute rehearsals culminate in a musical playoff between the two remaining orchestras at the Royal Albert Hall. At stake is the chance to perform at the celebrated Proms in the Park in Hyde Park and be crowned Britain's most inspirational amateur orchestra. In preparation for the final, both orchestras are packed off to a boot camp where a team of professional musicians have been lined up to put them through the musical wringer. Series judge Paul Daniel gives them their last masterclass while series mentor Chi-chi Nwanoku keeps a close eye on proceedings. With just two weeks till the playoff the orchestras return to their home towns. We follow them as they struggle to squeeze in extra practices between work and families, fine tuning their performance and adding final flourishes, preparing to do musical battle at the at the Royal Albert Hall. The series concludes with a once in a lifetime performance from the winning orchestra at Proms in the Park in front of family, friends and an audience of thousands.