The ABF Voices choir heard at Canticle of Peace was an international group of young singers brought together from local projects of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. On July 29, 2026, the Vatican counted 164 children and young people taking part in the prayer and fraternity gathering at Borgo Laudato si' in Castel Gandolfo. They performed with Andrea Bocelli before Pope Leo XIV.
The phrase "ABF Voices choir" can be useful shorthand for that group, but it should not suggest that all 164 ordinarily rehearsed in one city. Their shared performance followed work in separate communities and a ten-day gathering in Italy.
The local origins named by ABF were Nabikabala in Uganda, Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the Holy Land, and Naples and Camerino in Italy. Each has its own program history.
The Ugandan choir is based at a village school in Namutumba District, in partnership with African Soup Uganda. The Jerusalem project works with the Magnificat Institute and has operated in both Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Italian projects include a choir in Naples's Rione Sanita and work around the Camerino music academy in the Marche.
The foundation's earlier Haiti project was also part of the broader Voices Of network. ABF's Italian announcement said Haiti would be represented at the 2026 gathering by its choir director; Vatican advance material nevertheless listed Haiti among the choir's origins. The children's exact delegation list should therefore be reported from the more detailed ABF account unless an updated roster is available.
How ABF Uses Choral Practice as Education
ABF describes choral practice as a way to build more than musical technique. Rehearsal requires singers to attend to a director, their section and the sound of the group. A child may have to lead a phrase in one moment and support another voice in the next.
The foundation says it uses that structure to help young people develop confidence, self-awareness, cooperation and other social and emotional skills. Those goals are part of ABF's educational model; they do not mean that every child experienced the same change. The local programs' continuity, and the educators who work with them, matter more to such claims than a single performance does.
The Ten-Day Global Gathering
The Global Gathering was the first time many members of the local groups met. ABF scheduled it from July 20 to 29, 2026, and described rehearsals alongside educational, artistic and outdoor activities.
Its Italian account placed the first part of the program in the hills of San Marcello Pistoiese in Tuscany. Participants then traveled through the final institutional and musical encounters, including the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, the Quirinale in Rome and Borgo Laudato si' in Castel Gandolfo.
The journey gave the singers a chance to work across differences in language and experience. It also meant that their appearance before the Pope was the end of an organized course of preparation.
Music and Prayer at Canticle of Peace
The music at Canticle of Peace served a religious and civic purpose. Vatican News described sections on creation, peace, human dignity, faith and unity. The choir sang music linked to those themes, including "Singing All Together," and joined Bocelli in "Amazing Grace" after the Pope's blessing. Children also read a prayer in several languages.
Leo XIV thanked the choir members and directors for their preparation and described a choir as an image of cooperation in which each voice contributes something of its own. That interpretation was offered by the Pope in his address; it is part of the event's record, not proof that the gathering changed wider political conflicts.
The Young Singers Behind the Performance
The singers should be treated as participants rather than symbols alone. They came from communities with differing circumstances and carried out substantial work before the public heard them.
The Vatican release referred broadly to conflict, poverty and hardship among the contexts represented; it did not provide individual biographies. Assigning a particular experience of war or deprivation to every child would go beyond the record.
A responsible account can describe the program's local settings and aims while preserving the young people's privacy and individuality.
From Local Choirs to One International Ensemble
Canticle of Peace gave ABF Voices a highly visible platform, but the choir's main significance lies in its design. The foundation's local projects give children a recurring place to practice music with others.
The Global Gathering then brought some of those separate groups into one temporary ensemble. The result on July 29 was a collective performance rooted in many smaller, sustained commitments.
Sources: Vatican release, ABF Global Gathering announcement, ABF Voices Of program, Vatican News account
