Currently, the Gozo Youth Wind Band & Orchestra is commemorating its 20th anniversary. During this year, it presented the Don Bosco Grand Concert at Oratory Don Bosco, Victoria in January, From the Beatles to U2 at MCC, Valletta in May, Opera vs Pop Under the Stars (14th edition) at the Gozo Ministry's Courtyard, Victoria in July and Stage and Proms on the Sea (7th edition) at the Mgarr Marina in September.
The next two months will be keeping the Gozo Youth Orchestra busy with two upcoming concerts. It is with great pleasure that the spectacular rock orchestral concert From the Beatles to U2, will now be produced in Gozo as well. The show will take place on Sunday, 30 October at the Aurora Theatre at 4pm providing an added-value to a weekend coinciding with the opera Carmen and the Sweet Tooth Festival. The rock-orchestral concert, held in collaboration with 7 Star Pyramid Productions and Festivals Malta, is supported by Cultural Heritage Directorate within the Ministry for Gozo, Arts Council Malta, MTA, General Soft Drinks Ltd, CVC Media, Aurora Bistro Café', The Duke Boutique Hotel and Paul Stellini Design Studio. The Gozo Youth Orchestra, under the direction of its founder and musical director Mro Dr Joseph Grech, will join forces with Gozo's Cash & Band together with a 16-piece 7SPP backing choir and solo singers Neville Refalo, Ludwig Galea, Dorothy Bezzina, Sarah Bonnici, Chris Grech, Keith Anthony and Kurt Cassar.
November will then be the month whereby The Gozo Youth Orchestra, in collaboration with The Helping Hand Group, will present a Gala performance of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber on Saturday, 19 November at 7.30pm. This show will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Gozo Youth Wind Band & Orchestra and the 25th anniversary of The Helping Hands Group. The latter was instrumental to re-introduce in Gozo the concept of musical theatre with productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Best of Musicals, A Night with the Musicals and LesMisSaigonGuerre, among others.
For this large-scale spectacular show, the Gozo Youth Orchestra, under the musical direction Mro Grech, will perform original West-End orchestrations purposefully hired and authorised from the Really Useful Group Ltd - UK of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpieces for stage including Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Requiem, Whistle Down the Wind, Starlight Express, Love Never Dies, Woman in White and Aspects of Love. We are proud to welcome Anthony Bezzina (Masquerade Theatre Company- Malta) as the artistic director and Romualdo Moretti (Milano) as the stage designer. A star-studded cast of solo musical theatre singers include Ludwig Galea, Dorothy Bezzina, Roger Tirazona, Lawrence Gray, Rachel Fabri, Neville Refalo and Francesca Power (UK) accompanied by Armita Azar on the violin. The GYO backing choir and children's chorus will be coached by Dorothy Bezzina.
Once again this event is supported by the Cultural Heritage Directorate within the Ministry for Gozo, Arts Council Malta, MTA, General Soft Drinks Ltd, CVC Media, Aurora Bistro Café', The Duke Boutique Hotel and Paul Stellini Design Studio.
For tickets and reservation details kindly visit: www.teatruaurora.com
The Gozo Youth Wind Band & Orchestra wraps up its year-long string of events by presenting a family show that closes the Christmas festive season with another edition of Christmas Rocks the Astra now titled Festive Rock and Pop at the Astra. The event will see once more the GYO and Cash Band present a varied rock and pop show closing the Christmas Season events in Gozo on Friday, 6 January 2023 at 7.30pm at Astra Theatre. The Piccole Stelle Choir will also join in the festivities.
For further information follow their Facebook and Instagram page, The Gozo Youth Wind Band & Orchestra