The Gaulitanus Choir of Gozo will be opening a new chapter in its relatively short history by organising a festival entitled Gaulitana – A Festival of Music. The 15-day long festival, which will be held between Monday 9 April and Sunday 22 April, and featuring local and international artists, was launched at a news conference which was addressed by the choir’s founder-director and chairman, Mro Colin Attard, who will also be the artistic director of the festival.
The festival’s first week will consist of an opera workshop. This masterclass for singers and accompanists will be conducted by top international opera coach Joyce Fieldsend, who currently works regularly as maestro di sala for the Teatro San Carlo of Naples and the Teatro La Fenice of Venice. The workshop sessions will be held alternately in Gozo and Malta, in the Exhibitions Hall and the Sentinella in Victoria, and at the Catholic Institute in Floriana.
This first edition of the festival will proceed with a series of four other concerts, which, as Mro Attard explained, will feature talent associated with the choir. Indeed, on Monday 16, the Ta’ Cenc Hotel at Sannat will be the venue for The Great American Songs: Terry Shaw in Concert.
Terry Shaw, a very versatile English musician who after performing, directing, composing and teaching has moved to Gozo and is active within the Gaulitanus Choir, will be giving a one-man show performing these American songs. An entrance fee of Lm2.50 will be charged and booking is open till Sunday 15.
The next concert will feature the Gaulitanus Choir’s principal soloist, Rita Dimech, in a vocal recital. Dimech, a Gozitan soprano, will perform a highly varied and appealing programme ranging from lieder to saloon arias and from light numbers to operatic arias. The recital will be held in the Exhibitions Hall, Victoria on Wednesday 18.
On Friday 20 the same hall will be the venue of another concert, this time a violin and piano recital, featuring young up-and-coming musician Jean Noël Attard. This 16- year-old, who has regularly appeared with the Gaulitanus, will be alternating between his two instruments, the violin and the piano, ensuring an evening of contrasting musical sounds, timbres and styles.
The festival will come to an end on Sunday 22 with Sacred Meets Profane, a concert fittingly featuring the Gaulitanus Choir. This will be held at the Palazzo Palina, Ta’ Cenc Hotel. As the title implies, the choir will present an interesting mixture of sacred and secular music which should definitely appeal to all sorts of taste. An entrance fee of Lm3.50, including after-concert refreshments, will be charged. Booking is open till Friday 20.
All concerts start at 8pm, except for the final choral concert which starts at 7.30pm. Further information and bookings can be attained on 2156-0200, 9925-8592, 9987-7687 or [email protected] as well as on the choir’s newly-launched website www.gaulitanus.org.