Also announced are 2026 highlights including an international choir competition and a Mass led by the Big Vocal Orchestra at the Basilica dei Frari
An increasingly rich and prestigious calendar of events for the Big Vocal Orchestra and Vocal Skyline, the Venetian choral ensembles directed by Marco Toso Borella that represent, with a combined roster of over 300 voices, Italy’s largest choir and one of the world’s largest permanent choral formations.
Today at the Ateneo Veneto, a press conference was held in the presence of Councilor for Social Cohesion Simone Venturini and several organizers and partners of the 2025 and 2026 events, including Ateneo Veneto President Antonella Magaraggia, Guardian Grando of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco Alfredo Baroncini, Guardian Grando of the Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista Franco Bosello, Matteo Antonini of the Cucine Economiche Popolari of Padua, and Father Tommaso of the Frari parish in Venice.
In addition to reviewing the many initiatives developed throughout 2025, including the third edition of La Voce Grande di Venezia, the calendar of upcoming events for the Christmas holidays was announced: after the inauguration of the City of Venice’s Christmas lights in Piazza Ferretto and Piazza San Marco, there is great anticipation for the Big Vocal Orchestra’s new concert-show for Teatro Stabile del Veneto on stage at Teatro Goldoni in Venice on December 20 and 21, and on January 6 at Teatro Mario Del Monaco in Treviso—”The Show Must Go On”—which, as every year, will surprise audiences with an original repertoire, choreography, audience participation, and many surprises (last remaining tickets at the Teatro Goldoni box office or at www.teatrostabileveneto.it). This year also marks 10 years of collaboration with Teatro Stabile del Veneto, which has always believed in this project and given it space not only in Venice’s city theater but also in those of Treviso and Padua. The Big Vocal Orchestra and Vocal Skyline are the artistic entity with the longest continuous presence on the Teatro Stabile del Veneto stage—moreover, the only non-professional choral ensemble on the program—and with an always enthusiastic audience response, with 4 consecutive sold-out performances.
Also highly anticipated are the events in Venetian squares, which have become an essential Christmas tradition of the city: on December 27, a Big Vocal Orchestra concert in Piazza Ferretto in Mestre, and on December 29 in Piazza San Marco in Venice with the return to the Loggia of Palazzo Ducale (a format inaugurated in 2019 that remains a historic record and exclusive for this choral ensemble).
A brand-new feature for 2025: this year the Christmas tour will also continue in Jesolo, in the natural arena of Piazza Aurora, the hub of the Christmas Village “Natale all’improvviso” initiatives promoted by the Municipality of Jesolo.
Among the concerts scheduled for 2026, at the end of the Christmas season a concert on January 16 at Teatro Toniolo in Mestre to commemorate 10 years since the death of Don Franco De Pieri, the appointment in Padua on February 8 at Teatro OPSA with “C’è un posto per tutti 3,” a benefit concert for Cucine Economiche Popolari of the Diocese of Padua, and the traditional April 25 appointment with Vocal Skyline at Teatro Goldoni for Teatro Stabile del Veneto. An important new event is scheduled for 2026 at the Basilica dei Frari: a Mass entirely led by the Big Vocal Orchestra’s singing—an event intended to be the first in a series through which the Venetian choir wants to serve the Venetian church as well, accompanying liturgical celebrations with its voices.
“It’s a dream we’ve had for a long time,” explains Francesca Bellemo, vice president of the Penelope association that manages the choral activities and soloists of the two groups. “Many of us have experience serving in parish liturgy. I myself led liturgical music for years at the parish of Santa Maria Goretti in Mestre. We know how important singing is for congregational participation, but we also know that accompanying Mass requires offering a sacred repertoire suited to the readings and liturgical context. For 2026, we plan to organize dedicated rehearsals open to people outside our choir (free of charge) to learn the songs together and participate in Mass together. No spectacle—simply the conviction, in the words of Saint Augustine, that those who sing pray twice. In our service to the city through many institutional and civic initiatives, we also want to offer ourselves in service to the Church of Venice.” A concert at the Basilica dei Frari will also follow in spring 2026.
In 2026, the La Voce Grande di Venezia event will also be enriched with a section dedicated to a national/international choir competition that will offer choral ensembles from across Europe the opportunity to be selected to share some of the most significant moments of the event with the Big Vocal Orchestra in Venice’s Scuole Grandi.
The press conference was an opportunity to highlight the social value of this “artistic universe” created by Marco Toso Borella in 2012, which has established itself as a driving cultural and musical force while also building a precious “fabric” of relationships, a true social network that reached its peak expression during COVID. “Over the years,” explained Marco Toso Borella, “we realized that as the artistic quality of our musical performance grew, the profound social and cultural impact of our work became equally evident. ‘Social’ because this group involves over 300 Venetian citizens, corresponding to as many families with their connections and relatives—a true community of people united by a passion for music and choral singing, who meet weekly, sometimes twice a week, to work together, have fun, and challenge themselves to grow and overcome their limits. None of our choristers or soloists are professional singers; we are all amateurs, citizens. The project also has strong ‘Cultural’ value when we choose, as with the La Voce Grande di Venezia initiative, to rediscover some of the city’s most significant historical sites, inhabiting them artistically and allowing other citizens to know them better and appreciate them through a multidisciplinary artistic lens.”
“You play a fundamental role that doesn’t end with the musical dimension,” declared City Councilor for Social Cohesion Simone Venturini, “but continues in your constant renewal of Venetian tradition. Your main mission today is to tell the story of contemporary Venice, a city that often remains anchored to its glorious past rather than appreciating the prestigious cultural and artistic opportunities of the present. Through your voices and the venues where you perform—sometimes little known even to Venetians themselves—you fulfill a great social mission, bringing joy and light even to fragile contexts.”
