Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding choir invite local acts to join Scottish shows

Last year the unknown Kingdom Choir made history when they became the first gospel choir to perform at a royal wedding.

Some 1.9billion people reportedly watched them perform Ben E King’s Stand by Me at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle .

A highlight of the day the Choir are now on their first ever tour in the 25 years they’ve been going, playing Glasgow tonight and Edinburgh tomorrow.

And they are spreading the love they’ve had by inviting local choirs to support them. Tonight it’s Stagecoach Glasgow and tomorrow Lothian Youth Arts and Musicals Company (LYAMC).

The Kingdom Choir’s leader Karen Gibson can’t wait to hear what Scotland has to offer.

She said: “Our two Scottish choirs are wonderful and we’re looking forward to meeting them. So far on the tour, the sections with the youth choirs have been very special.

“We only get a short time with them to rehearse and soundcheck, when we teach them some dance moves, but people have really loved the concept of seeing young people and children joining us. It has been very powerful and effective.”

She also hopes to inspire a new generation of gospel singers.

Karen reckoned: “I don’t think there are too many gospel choirs in Scotland – although I’d like to be proven wrong, and I’d like to think we can inspire some more people to get involved with gospel in the country.

“Scottish traditional, or folk, music is inspirational, in the same way gospel is, in that it talks about life, love, hope and relationships, so there’s definitely a link there. Music is always a connection between people.”

A former IT worker and music teacher, Karen formed the choir 25 years ago, drawing together singers from in and around London, from various Christian traditions. For their first two years together, the choir didn’t even have a name – it was only an invite to appear on the BBC’s Songs Of Praise which saw Karen decide on The Kingdom Choir. Karen has worked around the world as a gospel choir conductor, travelling as far a-field as Japan, Nigeria and the USA.

This weekend Harry and Meghan celebrated their first wedding anniversary. And Karen celebrated a rollercoaster year that’s changed her life.

She said: “This time last year, I had absolutely no clue what was going to come. I was living my ordinary life; giving gospel workshops, teaching in schools, travelling to do those things. I was jumping on public transport, missing busses and trains, all just going about my life.

“I had been told I would get a phone call, that it would be something big, but I had no clue at all what it was about. The person who initially told me said ‘I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s going to be big’…

“That call didn’t come for a few days, and I’d put it out of my head. I was on a number 87 bus and a very posh voice came through on a call and said: ‘We would like to invite you to sing at the Royal Wedding’. I was so shocked I just said: ‘You’re joking.’ They said absolutely nothing, so I knew it wasn’t a joke at all.”

Karen then had to tell the rest of the choir members without telling them what they’d be doing. They all said yes. Apart from one.

Karen revealed: “One gentleman said he wasn’t available, and yes, I’m pretty sure he kicked himself when it emerged what was happening.”

After the wedding the choir haven’t stopped. They released their debut album Stand By Me after singing to Sony, closed the Invictus Games in Sydney, performed at the Pride of Britain awards and alongside Madness for the BBC1’s English Hogmanay concert. They also appeared in an advert for Skoda cars.

Life has also changed for Harry and Meghan who are now proud parents to Archie and The Kingdom Choir have written a song for him, Lullaby.

Karen said: “To be honest, we have no clue if they’ve heard it yet – although we hope they have and that they enjoyed the message. But we know they have been so very busy as any new family is.

“I think they will be brilliant parents. I don’t know them personally, but I have a feeling they will want their child to be as grounded and as normal as possible, like Diana was with her sons.

“I see them as a power couple, they are so concerned about social issues and social justice, and that way of thinking for me means they will be brilliant parents.”

The idea of joining a choir isn’t new but their popularity is. Whether it’s Gareth Malone’s successful TV projects like Military Wives or Line of Duty actress Vicky McClure’s recent Dementia Choir – we like to join and listen to choirs.

Stagecoach Glasgow have been going for 25 years and at the moment have 300 members.

Run by Gary and Julie Hamilton they won the Glasgow heat to perform with The Kingdom Choir after sending videos of kids performing for touring productions of Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Gary, 53, from Glasgow said: “The kids are getting used to performing on big stages but it doesn’t stop them getting hugely excited. They all remember the Choir’s performance during the Royal Wedding. Even the youngest remembered them and wanted to participate alongside them.”

Of the 300 they have Gary and his team had to chose 40 with age ranges from eight to 18.

They will be singing backing vocals on one number but will also be opening the show for the Kingdom Choir for a full seven minutes.

Instead of choosing a couple of songs Stagecoach Glasgow’s musical director Kate Cameron has come up with a medley of songs which includes Heroes, Under Pressure and Absolute Beginners from David Bowie, Like A Prayer from Madonna, Wuthering Heights from Kate Bush and Careless Whispers from George Michael.

Gary explained: “It’s a nod to the parents. It teaches kids about classic songs from the past but gives parents songs they know.”

The joining together of age groups and strangers is the core of any choir.

Gary added: “The ethos of Stagecoach is to give kids something to enjoy but also to instil confidence in them to improve speech patterns, even to walk properly.

“There is a sense of joy from singing in a choir. You see these kids when they are shy and as they sing that disappears as they realise no one is looking at them individually they are looking at the choir as a whole and them singing together. They get this huge sense of achievement when they’ve nailed a song.”

Tomorrow it will be the turn of Lothian Youth Arts and Musicals Company (LYAMC) to support The Kingdom Choir at the Usher Hall in the capital.

Karen hopes the fantastic year they’ve had won’t end and their Scottish shows will continue what they are trying to do.

She said: “We are praying for longevity, we just want to impact the world for good. The album strap line is ‘Love Hope and Inspiration’, and I was thinking recently ‘hope’ is in pretty short supply right now, I feel the world is hungry for hope and good news – so we want to bring more of that about; that’s the long vision.”

Tickets for the tour are on sale now from www.ticketmaster.co.uk .