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Gozo’s Gaulitanus Choir 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 April 9th and Sunday April 22nd, and will feature local and international artists, was launched during a press conference held at the NGO Centre, Xewkija.

The press conference 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, namely at the Exhibition Hall and at the Sentinella in Victoria, Gozo and at the Catholic Institute in Floriana, Malta. While no more places for active participants are available, passive participants may attend at the fee of Lm5 per day or Lm15 for the whole workshop. Some of the work done during the workshop will be demonstrated during a concluding concert featuring the workshop’s participants on Saturday 14th at the Sentinella, a historic hall at the Cittadella, Victoria.

This first edition of the festival will proceed with a series of 4 other concerts, which, as Mro. Attard explained, will intentionally feature talent associated with the choir. Indeed, on Monday 16th, 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 many years 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 immortal American songs. To create the right ambience, drinks will be offered during the performance and the audience will be seated in a club / restaurant setting. An entrance fee of Lm2.50 will be charged and booking is open till Sunday 15th.

The next concert will feature the Gaulitanus Choir’s principal soloist, Rita Dimech, in a Vocal Recital. Dimech, a Gozitan soprano and one of the most established singers in our islands, 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 at the Exhibition Hall, Victoria on Wednesday 18th.

On Friday 20th 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 is already building an eventful career and who has regularly appeared with the Gaulitanus, will be alternating between his two instruments, the violin and the piano, thus assuring an evening of contrasting musical sounds, timbres and styles.

The festival will come to a grand finale on Sunday 22nd with Sacred Meets Profane, a concert fittingly featuring the Gaulitanus Choir. This will be held at the Palazzo Palina, Ta’ Cenc Hotel, Sannat. As the title implies, the choir will present an interesting mixture of sacred and secular music which should definitely appeal to all tastes. An entrance fee of Lm3.50, including after-concert refreshments, will be charged. Booking is open till Friday 20th April.

All concerts start at 20.00hrs, except for the final choral concert which starts at 19.30hrs. Further info and bookings can be made on 21560200, 99258592, 99877687 or by email to colinatt@maltanet.net as well as on the choir’s newly-launched website www.gaulitanus.org.

Mro. Attard augered that this first edition of “Gaulitana - A Festival of Music” will be the basis of more extensive editions in the future. He finally thanked the various sponsors without whose support the organisation of the festival would not have been possible. These are the Cultural Council (Ministry for Gozo), the Victoria Local Council, Bank of Valletta, Arkadia, Ta’ Cenc Hotel, Downtown, Air Malta, Café Jubilee and Gozo Channel.