Top singing teacher Jonathon Welch has returned from a successful international singing career to his native Victoria, inspired by an idea he came across in Canada. Jonathon wants to take a group of homeless or disadvantaged people off the streets of Melbourne and into his new choir. After an intensive recruiting process, the choir assembles. They may not sound great at the beginning but Jonathon is sure he can mould the raw talent into a singing force to be proud of. First challenge is to busk in front of Flinders Street station to raise money for a session in a recording studio. They need to raise $600, an enormous amount for a group that has never sung in public before. Will they be able to put on a good enough show to get the money?
The Choir of Hard Knocks has raised enough money to book some time in a recording studio to make a fund-raising CD for Christmas. Jonathon needs to find soloists, a nerve-wracking process for a choir of homeless or disadvantaged people. Meanwhile, the realities of running such a project are becoming evident - there are personal hygiene issues, and one of the choir's best voices is missing, and no-one can find him. Eventually they're ready to go into the recording studio, but their busy schedule means they only have two hours to record - it's unlikely they're going to get the tracks laid down in time. Has Jonathon bitten off more than he can chew?
It's a race against time to get the Christmas CD recorded and mixed - but all the effort is evidently worthwhile when the Choir hear the results played back to them - the most emotional moment of the journey for Jonathon so far. They've taken a leap of faith and pressed 4,000 CDs. But there are only ten days before Christmas to sell them, and there's a real risk a project designed to raise money could actually leave them in the red.
It's all hands on deck as the choir attempts to sell the 4,000 copies of their Christmas CD. The positive effects of the choir become evident as key members struggle to stay clean and sober. Jonathon is so proud of them he has a surprise announcement. He's booked Melbourne Town Hall for a gala concert just ten weeks after Christmas.
It's show time. Virtually no tickets have been sold, the choir are squabbling, Jonathon's stressed. But in a few weeks they need to take to the stage of Melbourne Town Hall and give the performance of their lives. Key singers have been struggling in a battle to avoid drugs and alcohol and stay clean for the big night. They're short of rehearsal time, and it's all looking like it could go horribly wrong. Can they turn it round in time?
Twelve months ago, Jonathon Welch brought together a group of Melbourne's disadvantaged to form a choir, but he had no idea what a sensation it would become. Now, the forty-two members of the Choir of Hard Knocks have been invited to perform in the Opera House concert hall. Taking such a disparate group on the road is a risky venture, and the stakes are high. It's a real show of faith in the Choir, and nerve-wracking for the organisers. It's a massive logistical operation given the varied emotional and physical needs of the choristers. For most, it will be their first time on a plane or their first trip interstate. It's an exciting and stressful experience for the choristers, and possibly overwhelming for some. But the Choir and the organisers are determined to make it a performance of a lifetime. For Jonathon Welch, it's a return to his home stage - the "office" as he calls it. As Principal Tenor with Opera Australia, the Opera House stage was his second home for many years. Now he returns with the Choir to perform in front of a sell-out crowd in what will be a truly special performance.