In Gozo, the upcoming Christmas season will open its festivities with ‘Carols by Candlelight on Friday 5^th and Saturday 6^th December by the Schola Cantorum Jubilate.

Along the years, ‘Carols by Candlelight’ has remained that Christmas event which music and Christmas lovers cannot afford to miss. Many Maltese residents cross over to Gozo specifically to attend this event. Foreign residents also do their utmost to attend before they join their families abroad for the holidays.

This year, the artistic direction is in the hands of Paul Stellini.

The evening will start with the Christmas concert at St. Augustine’s Church in Victoria. The programme will include classical and traditional pieces together with some contemporary compositions. Then right after the concert, there will be a dinner in the cloister, adjacent to the church, which will be decorated for the occasion. The food will be freshly prepared by the Ta’ Frenċ chefs, under the mastery of Chef Mario Schembri. In the anteroom leading to the cloister, there will be an exhibition of Christmas paintings in 3D by George Apap, a Gozitan artist who resides in Mosta. Mr. Apap was inspired by childhood memories of Christmas and Christmas cards from the Victorian era.

The choir, during the past year, has been quite active in the local scene. Precisely a year ago, it participated in the Malta International Choirs’ Festival and obtained a Silver Medal Award in the category ‘Sacred a cappella’. Then in April, together with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, it produced Duruflé’s masterpiece ‘Requiem’. Recently it was also featured on the local media due to its participation in the concert, part of Modern Music Days project organised by the Teatru Manoel, Malta Association for Modern Music and Valletta 18.

The choir is under the direction of Marouska Attard who has recently completed her Master Degree in Choral Direction at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Ms. Attard came back from the UK with new views and innovative ideas which will surely contribute in adding a spell to the whole event.

The proceeds of this soirée will be donated to Ġużeppa Debono Home which is a pro-life entity. Tickets are available from D’Amato Records Shop in Valletta and from Bargate Bookshop in Victoria. Those who wish to spend the night in the Priory can contact directly the friars on 21556060. Further details about the event are available on the choir’s website (scjchoir.com) on the choir’s facebook page.