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Gabrieli shines at Three Choirs Festival 2021 

It has been a busy few weeks for Gabrieli as we have just returned from Three Choirs Festival. It was wonderful to bring together our singers, players and audiences to perform our much loved performance of Purcell’s King Arthur and to begin our national touring project, ‘Re-Creation’, as part of our education scheme, Gabrieli Roar. In case you missed out, we want to share these highlights with you…

“To call this entertaining would be a serious understatement”
– the arts desk

Long renowned for our performances of the music of Henry Purcell, Gabrieli presented King Arthur, the composer’s great 17th century patriotic opera, at Worcester Cathedral on Monday 26 July.

Our team of soloists consisted of sopranos Anna Dennis, Mhairi Lawson and Charlotte Shaw; tenors Christopher Fitzgerald Lombard, Jeremy Budd, James Gilchrist and Tom Castle; and basses Marcus Farnsworth and Dingle Yandell; accompanied by our esteemed players and directed by Maestro Paul McCreesh. Their semi-staged performance brought joy and laughter to an enthusiastic audience providing our musicians with the recognition and appreciation they richly deserve after so long out of the spotlight.

As part of a broader festival article, click here to read a full review of the concert.

“This was a stiff test for the young singers of Gabrieli Roar. It was a test which they passed with flying colours.”
– Seen and Heard International

Last weekend we welcomed 100 young singers from across Worcestershire and greater London to join our professional musicians and singers in a performance of Haydn’s Creation in Worcester Cathedral, the closing concert of the Three Choirs Festival. The Gabrieli Roar partner choirs were Gloucestershire Boys’ Choir, Cheltenham Youth Choir, King’s School Worcester, Gloucester Cathedral Youth Choir, Worcester Cathedral Girls’ Choir, Tiffin School, and Shrewsbury Youth Choir.

“Exciting, exhilarating and enjoyable” – Roar choir member, 14 yrs

Across the two days our Artistic Director Paul McCreesh, supported by Roar’s Choral Directors Charles MacDougall and Emily Dickens, worked tirelessly with our young singers, aged from 10 to 18 years old. The choirs were put through their paces with warm-up exercises, sectionals with our Vocal Leaders and joined the Gabrieli professional players and soloists (Carolyn Sampson, Robert Murray and Neal Davies) for a tutti rehearsal in the afternoon on the concert day.

“I was astounded and delighted with the progress my singers made during the rehearsals… the weekend work was brilliant.” – participating Choir Director

This performance is the first in a series of five as part of our ‘Re-Creation’ project, which by the end of February will see 1000 teenagers perform The Creation. Our next concerts in the Autumn will include Romsey Abbey, York Minster and Ely and Durham Cathedrals.

Click here to read a full review on this concert and to learn more about Paul McCreesh’s artistic vision and aim of this ambitious national project. Watch this space on how to book tickets for our future performances…

“I LOVED this project. I thought the choir sounded fantastic and the opportunity to work with young people in this setting was really very moving.” Gabrieli musician