Charles MacDougall

Charles Béquignon-MacDougall is known equally for his singing and his transformative work with choirs, singers and teachers, and is one the country’s most influential champions of music education.

Currently Creative Director of Gabrieli Roar, ABRSM Choral Consultant (ABRSM Voices), Ambassador for Britten-Pears Arts, and Director and Trustee of the Choral Foundation at Hampton Court Palace’s Chapel Royal, he formerly served as Choral Director for Voices Foundation. An accomplished choral conductor and vocal coach, he is Chorus Director for Gabrieli Roar, one of the Musical Directors of Trinity Laban Conservatoire Chamber Choir, and directs two choirs and one upper voices group in London, having previously held the post of Vocal Ensembles Coach and Tutor in Vocal Studies at Junior Trinity.

In 2024, he was part of the artistic leadership that earned both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award for the Gabrieli Consort’s recording of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius. His work in music education has also been widely recognised, including a 2018 Music and Drama Education Award for Excellence in Primary/Early Years (VF/DRET Singing School). He has also been a finalist in those same awards in 2019 (Songs of Home), 2022 (Inside Singing), 2023 (Primary Singing Toolkit with Jenny Trattles for ISM Trust), and 2024 (Breaking The Singing Barrier with Jenny Trattles for ISM Trust).

An active facilitator, he leads workshops for the BBC Singers and LSO, promotes contemporary choral repertoire for Oxford University Press, and supports choirs and educators through ISM, ABCD, UK Choir Festival, Military Wives Choirs, and the Music and Drama Education Expo.

A founding member of VOCES8 (2005-12), he continues to perform with ensembles such as the Gabrieli Consort, London Voices (appearing on numerous film soundtracks), and London Early Opera. He has collaborated with artists including Jacob Collier, Facesoul, and the James Taylor Quartet.

His solo credits include: Handel’s Messiah (Hitomi Memorial Hall, Tokyo); Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (Izumi Hall, Osaka); Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (The Guards’ Chapel, London); Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion (Dalby Kammarkör, Sweden); Bach Early Cantatas (Les Inventions, Dijon Opera House); and creating the role of Richard III in John Webb’s The Last Plantagenet (Philharmonia Orchestra, De Montford Hall).  From 2014-2018 he gave recitals across France and Belgium at the Commonwealth War Graves as part of the Centenary commemorations, and in 2018 he made his London Handel Festival solo debut.

He holds a BA (Hons) and MA (Distinction) from Durham University, a PhD from the University of London, and certificates in Coaching and Mentoring (Guildhall) and Vocal Health First Aid (NCFE Level 2).