Grammy-winning hitmaker Adam Anders has worked with artists including Miley Cyrus.

His new challenge, as musical director and executive producer of NBC’s new musical drama series, “Perfect Harmony,” is getting star Bradley Whitford to sing in front of the camera.

“He’s the conductor of the choir [and] he’s not necessarily supposed to sing,” Anders says of Whitford’s character, curmudgeonly music teacher Dr. Arthur Cochran. “But I think it would be super-fun for the audience to hear him sing. I’ve been bugging him about it. He’s warming up to it. That’s the thing I’m working towards.”

The series, airing Thursdays (8:30 p.m.), follows a failing Kentucky church choir led by the determined Ginny, played by Anna Camp (“True Blood”) — who has sung on the big screen in the “Pitch Perfect” movies and didn’t need much coaching. “Anna is super-talented and [fellow cast member Geno Segers] is amazing,” Anders says. “It makes my job much easier to have a case like we do.”

In the show, Whitford’s Dr. Cochran is reluctantly tasked with transforming the choir into a first-rate singing ensemble.

“You haven’t heard Bradley sing yet, but we’re working on it,” Anders says. “Bradley’s funny and he likes to tease. I think he’s probably always thought he’s going to sing on this show — he just doesn’t want to tell me. I can see the twinkle in his eye when he’s like ‘I don’t want to sing.’ What he’s really saying is, ‘I’ll sing when I want to.’ ”

Much like Fox’s “Glee,” on which Anders also worked as executive music producer, “Perfect Harmony” includes the cast singing recognizable hits such as Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.”

“If something is familiar, it kind of removes the barrier to entry much quicker into the moment,” says Anders. “If it’s a song you already love you can just dive into the emotion of the scene. So I think it’s an effective way to tell a story, but then reinvent it in a new fresh way you didn’t see coming.”

In the series pilot, for instance, the choir blends a rendition of “Hallelujah” with “Eye of the Tiger.”

“Lesley Wake Webster, who created the show, pitched the idea to me,” Anders says. “She was like, ‘This probably won’t work at all.’ I said, ‘It’s a terrible idea. I love it! These two songs do not belong together but I can’t wait to try.’

“Those are the unlikely combinations I love,” he says. “When you take something familiar and do it in an unexpected way — think of things like ‘Hamilton’ —those are elements that connect with people. You don’t see it coming, but it feels like home.”

As for Whitford, Anders is holding out hope that he will soon be crooning along with the “Perfect Harmony” choir.

“I have a feeling [that] once I get him in there and he sings a song, we’ll hear more of Arthur singing in the show,” Anders says. “He’s going to present an idea to me soon and I’m very excited.

“He has something cooking. We’re hoping for a nice surprise.”