The recently-launched “50 Reasons to Love Gozo”, a book written by Swiss-German journalist Gabriele Spiller, with versions in English and German, contains 50 different stories intended to promote Gozo and its various facets abroad.
This features an interview with the choir’s founder-director and Gaulitana artistic director, Colin Attard, which touches on various aspects of cultural life in Gozo, Attard’s own contribution to enrichen this activity, and, of course, also refers to the Gaulitanus and Gaulitana. Very pertinently, Daniel Cilia’s unique photo of the Gaulitana’s Norma, the only Gozitan operatic production so far whose set was “moved” to Gozo, namely the Ggantija temples, was used to illustrate the operatic efforts held in Victoria’s two theatres.
Coincidentally, the book also features an interview with the Gaulitanus Choir’s president, Fr Joseph Calleja, who, in his personal capacity, is responsible for the hefty overhaul currently being given to the Cathedral Museum.
In the keynote speech delivered during the book’s launching, Spiller also acknowledged the maestro’s help in her framing of the book, stating that ‘without the support of Colin Attard, with whom I share a love of music, several exciting stories would not have come to fruition. I owe him a great debt of gratitude! And it fills me with joy that an idea I raised in the interview is now taking shape: In the last question, Colin expresses his hope that the nomination as European Capital of Culture 2031 could crown the “great, uninterested and painstaking efforts to develop Gozo into an island of culture.”’
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