A year or so after the Gaulitanus Choir had made its first concert tour abroad in the UK in 1995, the choir was contacted by the Kantorei Grossflottbek from Hamburg, Germany, about the possibility of entering into an exchange programme. Very enthusiastic after the choir’s very successful exchange with the UK’s Fareham Philharmonic Society, the ball was immediately set rolling. Discussions between the Gaulitanus’s musical director Colin Attard and de facto president John Scerri with the Kantorei’s tour manager Eberhard John and conductor Astrid Grille were held immediately. The parameters for the exchange were agreed to and soon concrete work on the actual programme started.
Actually, the Kantorei were in Malta and Gozo within a few months, indeed in May 1997 – giving a series of concerts, including a high profile one of Carmelo Pace music at the Mdina Cathedral jointly with the Gaulitanus Choir and orchestra. It was soon the Gaulitanus’s turn to be in Germany, indeed in August-September, when it had a long 11-day concert tour with a rather packed programme of events.
The Gaulitanus Choir was initially based in Hamburg, hosted by the Kantorei, who also fully organised the programme of events, with the support of Hamburg’s Ministry of Culture. Whereas lots of sightseeing was involved, some official events were also on the programme. The first was courtesy visit to the Mayor of the Federal Parliament of Altona attended also by attended by the Honorary Consul General for Malta in Hamburg, Mr Otto Techau, who was very supportive throughout. This was followed by a reception. Another atypical event was a brunch and an informal mini-concert, also featuring a Chinese soprano active at the Hamburg Opera House, offered in the choir’s honour by Mr Richard Esten-Cleverly, a Hamburg resident of Maltese origin and a cultural guru.
The artistic programme of events commenced with the choir’s participation in a lunchtime service at the magnificent St Michael’s Church, a landmark in Hamburg, during which the choir’s sacred numbers alternated with some organ excerpts played by the resident organist of the ‘Michel’ one the church’s three superb pipe-organs. The next commitment was an early evening concert at St Peter’s Church, another important church in Hamburg. Following a day tour of Lubeck and Schwerin, a third concert was held in the picturesque parish church of Grosstrebbow, in an exquisite candlelight setting. The final concert in Hamburg was a much-anticipated grand one held at the Kantorei’s home parish church of Grossflottbek, attended by the Honorary Consul General for Malta in Hamburg, Mr Techau. Indeed, this came to an end with the Kantorei joining for Carmelo Pace’s cantata ‘The Eternal Triumph’, which the choirs had performed jointly in Malta some months before. Towards the end of concert gifts were exchanged, and remonstrating the true friendship that had ensued between both choirs, all Gaulitanus members were individually presented with a flower. A post-concert grand reception offered by the Kantorei concluded the Gaulitanus’s Hamburg stay in really high spirits.
After a week in Hamburg, the choir moved to Berlin, on the invitation of the Kantorei Bonhoeffer of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Parish and its pastor Hartmut Walsdorff, who in turn had been brought in the loop by the Hamburg choir. Sightseeing apart, an evening concert was held at the Bonhoeffer Parish, during which as a sign of friendship the Kantorei Bonhoeffer joined in a rendering of Mozart’s Ave Verum directed by the Berlin choir’s conductor Sebastian Schwarze. The concert, which was attended by the Honorary Consul of Malta in Berlin, Mrs Ingrid Christine Moebus, was extremely well-received as attested by a review which eventually appeared in the local Berlin newspaper (herewith attached together with other pertinent material). Again gifts were exchanged, and a post-concert reception was given by the Berlin hosts.
Throughout this concert tour, the Gaulitanus Choir was led by its founder-director Colin Attard, with resident pianist Stephen Attard accompanying. Also featuring the choir’s two soprano soloists, Rita Dimech and Georgina Gauci, the repertoire presented was a highly varied international one. Malta was represented by the already-mentioned Pace, Pietro Paulo Bugeja and the Gaulitanus’s own Colin Attard.
This was truly a memorable and very particular concert tour, also because the choir members were hosted in individual homes. Besides, to date, this remains the choir’s longest ever tour abroad!
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