Roar Evolve

Our Roar Evolve activities fall into two distinct project formats: non-residential programmes providing choirs and singers of all abilities with the opportunity to perform short baroque works such as the Vivaldi Gloria or Purcell Dido and Aeneas, and our biannual Christmas tour, which engages around 5000 young people every year in cities from Truro to Glasgow. All Roar Evolve performances are conducted by Gabrieli Artistic Director Paul McCreesh, with visits from our Creative Directors, Emily Dickens and Charles Bequignon-MacDougall, and other Gabrieli professionals providing all of the training, resources and enthusiasm to form the foundation of a term’s worth of learning and music making.

Baroque Masters

In Spring 2026, we are visiting five cities across the country, working with children from year 5 upwards to perform a programme of Purcell, Bach and Vivaldi, culminating in the ever-popular Vivaldi Gloria. Our touring group of professional musicians – a full baroque orchestra and consort of singers – will travel to Derby, Leeds, Durham, Portsmouth and Bury St Edmunds. In each city we will be joined by around 200 young people to perform this joyous programme of well-known and well-loved music.

This project is no longer open to new partners, but if you would like to join us for an upcoming performance please visit our Events Page. Choirs wishing to register their interest to participate in future similar projects should contact Anna Winstone, Director of Gabrieli Roar: anna@nullgabrieli.com.

Purcell Dido and Aeneas

At just an hour long, with tales of warfare and love, witches and betrayal, this vivid music is the perfect introduction to opera and baroque music for any young singer, choir or audience member.

Between each of the opera’s five short acts we have interpolated a series of sea shanties and folk songs that respond to the opera’s narrative themes. By doing so, this project is able to engage a much wider range of ability and age ranges, as primary schools perform the new folk songs and sea shanties, while more advanced choirs and secondary schools singing the Purcell choruses alongside our stellar cast of world-class soloists and orchestra, conducted by Paul McCreesh.

Watch our short film about our performance with Leicester Music Hub in June 2025, featuring over 350 young voices.

This project is available year-round – to find forthcoming scheduled performances, please visit our Events Page. Interested prospective partners should get in touch with Anna Winstone, Director of Gabrieli Roar: anna@nullgabrieli.com.

Christmas 2026: Mr Handel’s Christmas Story

Our Christmas 2026 project will see 28 of Gabrieli’s professional instrumentalists and singers tour to eleven cities from Truro to Glasgow, working with around 6000 young singers, their choirs, music hubs, local cathedrals and schools.

This year, our Christmas programme is an exciting and original concept from Gabrieli Artistic Director Paul McCreesh, who has created a ‘new’ Handel oratorio to celebrate Christmas and introduce some of Handel’s greatest music to new audiences. The programme will include many of the most famous movements from Messiah alongside adaptations of other Handel works to tell the parts of the story Handel never set. The final scene, celebrating the triumph of good over evil as the Christ-child appears on earth, gives the perfect opportunity for us to finish an evening of glorious music making with the Hallelujah chorus.

Mr Handel’s Christmas Story is scored for a full baroque orchestra – strings, flutes, recorders, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, drums, harpsichord and organ, which gives the opportunity to introduce a wide range of historical instruments. Rumour has it that Gabrieli’s much-loved contrabass serpent will also make a special appearance…

Please visit our Events Page to find performance details nearer the time.