The next lunchtime concert will feature Gozitan soprano Rita Dimech in a vocal recital. She will be accompanied on the piano by Colin Attard. The concert, organised by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, will take place on Wednesday 24 January, at the Music Room, St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta.
Soprano Rita Dimech will interpret two songs from Jones’ operetta The Geisha as well as arias from the opera Turandot by Puccini, Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea and Carmen by Bizet. She will round off her programme with a Neapolitan medley all’italiana arranged by Colin Attard.
The performance starts at 12.30pm and lasts approximately 30 minutes. Tickets at Lm1 for adults and 50c for children under 12 and persons over 60 can be purchased from the Booking Office at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, tel.: 2122-3200 (opening hours: 10am-9pm daily).
Born in Gozo, Rita Dimech started her vocal studies with Welsh tutor Eirioes Thomas Jones and later continued with Paul Axiaq. She is currently under the guidance of Juliette Bisazza Zanni. She has interpreted important operatic roles such as Liu in Turandot, Micaela in Carmen and Olga in Fedora in casts including world-renowned singers at the Aurora Theatre in Gozo. Rita has also appeared in concerts in the USA, Canada, England, Wales, Germany, The Netherlands and Corsica. She has also participated in the April Spring Festival held in North Korea where she was awarded the Silver Award and Diploma. Last year she featured as the principal soloist in the following CDs:Sacred in Opera and Maria: A Celebration of Marian Hymns, both released by the Gaulitanus Choir, of which she is a member. She also forms part of the Gozo Cathedral resident choir, the Chorus Ecclesiae Cathedralis. Most of her singing activities have been held under the direction of Mro Colin Attard, who has been instrumental in fostering her singing career.
Conductor and composer Colin Attard is the resident director of Gozo’s Aurora Theatre, the director of the Leone Band and the maestro di cappella of the Gozo Cathedral. He is the founder-director of the Gaulitanus Choir and the director of the Gozo Cathedral’s resident choir, the Chorus Ecclesiae Cathedralis. Since 1988, Mro Attard has been staff member of the Gozo School of Music. He has edited and revived several forgotten compositions from Gozitan archives and for several years, he has also been in charge of the Carmelo Pace revival concerts.
Further information on cultural activities can be obtained from www.maltaculture.com.