Virtually a Cappella – opens the re-scheduled hybrid 14th edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music. The first of the festival’s virtual projects is on Wednesday, the 19th of May.

Gaulitana explained that as the title alludes, the four-part series features short solo unaccompanied recitals by four local instrumentalists recorded in four very enchanting small and lesser-known charming sacred spaces around Gozo.

Harpist Caroline Calleja performs at the Santa Lucija Church, violinist Pierre Louis Attard at Qala’s Kuncizzjoni Church, cellist Simon Abdilla Joslin at Xewkija’s Museum of Sculpture (Old Church), and saxophonist Philip Attard at Gharb’s Taz-Zejt Church.

The repertoire will see the inclusion of local compositions – a particular artistic leitmotif running throughout the series. Some rarely performed works by internationally-renowned composers Charles Camilleri and Joseph Vella and are presented along works by one of the country’s finest contemporary composers, Christopher Muscat, and another – a premiere, by up-and-coming Pierre Louis Attard.

Gaulitana said that – Virtually a Cappella – is “very much a showcase of local heritage, culture and art on the international platform.”

The series, filmed by CVC Media (Gozo), will be streamed on ‘Gaulitana: A Festival of Music’ facebook page and YouTube channel on four consecutive Wednesdays between the 19th of May 19 and the 9th of June, at 7pm.. The series will remain available on the festival’s digital platforms.

Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, an annual festival artistically directed by Colin Attard and organised by the Gaulitanus Choir and an awardee of the European Festivals Association’s EFFE label, is principally supported by the Gozo Cultural Support Programme of Arts Council Malta and the Ministry for Gozo.

Photos: CVC Media

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