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The Gaulitanus Choir held its fourth annual End of Season Concert at the Exhibition Hall in St. Francis Square on Saturday, 3rd January 2009, at 7.15pm. The entrance to this concert was as usual free. This concert that was very well attended so much so that all the seats in the hall were taken and additional chairs had to be brought for people who sat in the hall. This concert was as usual directed by Mro. Colin Attard and Mro. Stephen Attard accompanied the choir on the piano.
At the start of this concert, the choir’s founder and artistic director, Mro. Colin Attard, after greeting His Excellency the Bishop of Gozo, Mgr. Mario Grech, Mr. and Mrs. Anton Tabone former Minister of Gozo and Speaker of the House of Representatives and the very numerous audience, recollected the memory of Mro. Charles Camilleri, one of Malta’s foremost’s composers who had just passed away aged 77 years since we were probably holding the first concert after the notification of his demise. He also stated that unfortunately two of the soloists listed on the programme – Tricia Fenech and Deborah Zammit – could not attend the concert as they were sick.
This concert started out with "Gloria in excelsis" a classical medley of Christmas carols for choir and soloists. The soloists were Stephanie Buttigieg, Josianne Callus, Maria Grech Magro and Joseph Calleja.
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This was followed by another classical medley of six seasonal songs each of which was sung solo by six choir members: Maria Meilak, Annabelle Zammit, Stephanie Portelli, Charlene Borg, Marthese Borg and Joseph Buttigieg.
After this it was the choir’s turn again and this time the choir sang the "Carol of the Bells" (an Ukrainian Carol by Mykola Leontovich), "A Child is Born" (from Antonin Tucapsky’s "The Time of Christmas") which featured Joseph Buttigieg as Baritone soloist, and "Do you hear what I hear" a song by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne.
This was followed by "So this is Christmas" – a pop medley of Chistmas seasonal songs for soloists featuring Maria Meilak, Annabelle Zammit, Joseph Buttigieg, Marthese Borg and Stephanie Portelli. It was right in the middle of this meddley that the light went out and the hall was plunged in total darkness, but these brave soloists continued on regardless!
The choir had just two more items to sing and at first there was a question of if we are going to continue without seeing the music or the director – as the hall was in almost total darkness as no emergency lights were installed! The director decided that the show must go on and so the choir re-entered the hall for the last time to sing the las two items on the concert’s program reading the music by the lights of the member’s mobiles! Inspite of this handicap the choir sung a Negro Spiritual "Mary had a baby" and a pop medley of four seasonal songs "Together at Christmas" (arr. by C. Strommen) and in which Marthese Borg featured as a soloist!
As if this was not enough, the applause received promted the director to perform as an encore "Ninni ..Ninni", his arrangement of the traditional Maltese carol "Ninni la tibkix izjed" which besides the choir also featured Stephanie Buttigieg, Joseph Calleja, Joseph Buttigieg and Josianne Callus as soloists. Again a big applause followed. Sometimes not being able to see the director is a plus!!!!
At the end of this concert the director again addressed the audience and remenesced that the same thing (i.e. a power outage) had occurred some eighteen years previously or so when the choir was singing at St. Francis Church, but at least that time the friars did light plenty of candles and that concert had continued by candle-light, which was more than could be said for this concert! Very well done everybody!
Just one minute after the choir finished singing, the lights came back on!!!
The hero of these last twenty minutes was surely Mro. Stephen Attard who continued to accompany the choir in total darkness and without reading any music sheets!!
At the end of the concert, Josianne Callus and Raymond Agius the self styled choir’s "unionists" organised an impromptu unofficial outing to one of the restaurants which proved to be very successful and enjoyable! Thanks guys!
The choir’s next appointment is the choir’s Annual General Meeting which will be held at 7.30 pm next Friday the 9th of January 2009.
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