November 3, 2016, by Lindsay Brooke

University A Cappella Group faces the music in ‘The Choir’ – Tuesday BBC Two 9pm

In his latest search for undiscovered singing talent Gareth Malone came to The University of Nottingham to audition RadioOctave – the University’s student A Cappella group. It’s a few months since Gareth’s visit to University Park, which has been kept under wraps until now.

RadioOctave did well and were picked to feature in episode 2 of The Choir – Gareth’s Best in Britain, this coming Tuesday at 9pm on BBC Two.

Lucy Price founded the University’s A Cappella Society with two friends and fellow students, Benjamin Sim Wei Ming and Nick Hoare, in 2014. She put together RadioOctave, the Society’s core group, in October that same year.

Lucy said: “I’d been part of an auditioned A Cappella group in Manchester before I came to Nottingham and really missed singing in that style so setting up the society made complete sense.

“We considered applying for the show at the end of our first year together but we decided it was too soon. However, this year, we felt much stronger as a team of singers with a large repertoire and much more experience and having reached the Voice Festival UK semi finals last April. We applied not expecting to get through at all. We were truly astonished but so excited!”

The members of RadioOctave have a huge range of experience. Some have never sung before, others have reached very high grades in their singing training and performances.

Although Lucy has now graduated RadioOctave are still together and rehearse two times a week for two hours. Each rehearsal and attendance is necessary to achieve a high quality of music. They audition at the start of each academic year and look for commitment and passion.

She said: “We were all a bit stunned to reach this stage in The Choir as we didn’t think we would even be offered an audition! We se ourselves as a group of quirky and very friendly individuals just happy to have the chance to sing to anyone, let alone on national television.”

At the end of last summer they finished the production of a professional single, their own arrangement mash-up of Crazy in Love and Mad World.

Gareth’s new series scours the UK for the country’s most entertaining amateur choir. In Tuesday’s programme he heads to Wales and the Midlands. But will RadioOctave hit the right notes and progress to the semi-final? All will be revealed on Tuesday!

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