The Roar Programme

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

ROAR NEW VOICES
This is a starting point for secondary schools with limited choral provision or within areas of low cultural engagement. We provide workshops for basic training in unison and simple part-singing delivered by our Roar chorus directors. We offer small community projects focusing on simpler repertoire with reduced professional forces, and massed singing activities in collaboration with other local choirs in the area.

ROAR INTERMEDIATE
These projects feature several hundred participants in performances of simpler choral/ orchestral works. The young singers are supported in their training, and come together, usually for a weekend, prior to a cathedral performance.
Following the huge success of our 2022 In Dulci Jubilo concert tour, we will run a biennial Christmas project based in many of the country’s finest cathedrals. Participation at every level is encouraged, from advanced school choirs singing as a consort alongside our professional musicians, to younger singers, including later primary school years, who join in simpler repertoire. Gabrieli’s artistic team works with music teachers and choir directors to prepare the young singers and this tour acts as an important focus on recruitment.

ROAR SENIOR
Open to all secondary youth choirs, our annual summer residential course offers places up to 300 singers. The intensive 5-day course is built around more challenging oratorio repertoire for advanced singers as they come through our programme. We also welcome applications from individuals. Works have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and Britten’s War Requiem.

ROAR NEW LEADERS
We provide training and mentoring for those who are interested in developing skills as workshop leaders and choir directors and opportunities for singers to participate in high-level professional performances and recordings. For this strand of activity we will also work with older students at college and university. This is Roar’s only auditioned choir.

BECOMING A ROAR PARTNER
We build bespoke relationships with all 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 have a clear mission and are shamelessly ambitious. We will become the UK’s leading choral training programme for school and youth choirs. 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. If this is the case, please contact Anna or Freya.