About Gabrieli Roar

“Our work has proved that the higher one sets the bar, the higher young people jump; the barrier between young and old, professional and amateur is indeed a largely artificial one.” PAUL MCCREESH

Gabrieli Roar is a unique and exciting partnership between Gabrieli and a network of diverse British youth choirs. Taking a bold stance on the ability of young singers, we challenge them to perform side-by-side with our professional musicians and immerse them in the renowned energy of Gabrieli’s performances and recordings.

Led by Artistic Director Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Roar provides support and encouragement for youth choirs aspiring to achieve more, particularly in areas of low cultural provision. We help young singers to excel, develop their confidence in their own abilities and nurture a love of choral music. Gabrieli Roar is uncompromising in its commitment to enriching people’s lives through music.

The Roar Programme

Do you remember the moment you were first wowed by live music as a child? Was there one central musical experience that touched your soul so deeply that it catalysed a life-long passion? ​​

Gabrieli Roar works nationally to create these experiences for young people who wouldn’t otherwise have such opportunities. Our aim is to diversify choral singing from the ground up through a range of projects that develop inspiration, musical skills, confidence and feelings of ownership over our cultural heritage; from first access (Roar Explore days), and progression (Roar Evolve projects), to intensive residentials for the most experienced young singers (Roar Empower).

The Roar programme Gabrieli Roar is designed principally for secondary school aged students. We work with a huge variety of choirs, particularly state school choirs, church and cathedral choirs, community choirs and many youth choirs as well as music hubs and academy trusts. The programme is structured as follows:

ROAR EXPLORE: this is a starting point for schools with limited choral provision, especially those within areas of low cultural engagement. We provide singing workshop sessions for basic training in unison and part-singing, delivered by our Roar chorus directors. It is an opportunity for teenagers to find their voices, to introduce different techniques, to explore a wide repertoire of songs, and to enjoy being part of a massed choir. No advanced preparation is necessary for these singing days: the aim is to build confidence and instil a love of singing. On occasions we work with primary schools, especially those feeding secondary schools in the project.

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ROAR EVOLVE: we run a biennial Christmas project, touring many of the country’s finest cathedrals, connecting thousands of young singers across the UK. Participation at every level is encouraged, from year 7 to sixth form, from massed voices singing simpler music to the more experienced singing alongside our professional Gabrieli musicians. We also offer smaller-scale, bespoke programmes for individual choirs, based around simpler choral/ensemble works, and enabling young singers to take part in professional performances, often within their own community. We provide digital resources to support the learning of the repertoire, and our artistic team work in partnership with music teachers and choir directors in delivering preparation during the choirs’ own rehearsal time. This strand of our work reaches 4-5000 young people per year. 

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ROAR EMPOWER: open to all secondary-age choirs and individual singers, our annual summer residential courses offer up to 250 students the chance to work with greater focus. They are built around one of the large scale works of the choral repertoire, performed at the end of the course. Previous works have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and Britten’s War Requiem. Paul McCreesh, Artistic Director and Charles Béquignon-MacDougall and Emily Dickens, Creative Directors, lead rehearsals throughout the week. Our top level team of vocal coaches also work with the young singers in sectional rehearsals, musicianship workshops, small group singing, individual coaching and advanced vocal performance masterclasses. The courses are a mixture of intense hard work and lively social activities, supported by an excellent pastoral team.

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ROAR NEW LEADERS: for this strand of activity we work with sixth-form students and older students at college and university. Our Roar New Leaders join us on our residential course, where they form a chamber choir and act as ambassadors for Roar, supporting the younger singers. We also provide training and mentoring throughout our projects for those interested in developing skills as future workshop leaders and teachers, and invite selected young singers to participate in Gabrieli’s acclaimed professional performances and recordings.

Join Gabrieli Roar

We welcome expressions of interest from youth choirs, school choirs, or indeed any kind of choir where young people’s enthusiasm and commitment to singing great choral repertoire are celebrated!

We build bespoke relationships with all of our partner choirs, and often work over several years to support their development. We engage with choirs even in their early stages of activity, provided there is the ambition and aspiration to work at the highest level. Partnership and collaboration are not just ‘buzz words’ for Roar but at the heart of our projects. We would be delighted to hear from those wishing to connect their young singers to Gabrieli Roar, and anyone who would like to support our work.

Please contact:

Anna Winstone                            Freya Parry
Director of Roar                          Roar Manager
anna@nullgabrieli.com                     freya@nullgabrieli.com