Years active 1964–present Members 70–75 | Website Official website Origin Mosta, Malta | |
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Genres Classical music, Contemporary classical music, Religious music | ||
Founded in 1964 by Sr Beniamina Portelli, the St Monica Choir is one of Malta's leading polyphonic choirs. The choir’s repertoire varies from sacred to popular, early to contemporary.
Contents
- St monica choir ghanjiet maltin maltese traditional 2007
- Sr Beniamina Portelli Founder Director
- Administration
- The 11th Malta International Choir Festival Gold Award
- Choir Olympics 2000 Bronze
- Expressions The CD
- References
For over 20 years, it has been collaborating with other entities and exchanging visits with foreign choirs and travelling to European countries. The choir has, amongst others, presented concerts at the Liverpool Philharmonic Theatre, the Vatican City, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Esztergom Cathedral in Hungary and St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, as well as televised and radio recordings for renowned media stations such as the BBC and the German ARD 1. Amongst the choir’s participation with foreign choirs, one cannot but mention the Knox Academy Choir from Scotland and the Beethoven Society of Australia. With the latter, the St Monica Choir presented a memorable production of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Orkestra Nazzjonali under the baton of Dr Steve Watson at the Teatru Manoel in May 1999. The St Monica Choir has been commissioned to premiere local compositions, such as Stabat Mater by prolific Maltese composer Carmelo Pace together with Orkestra Nazzjonali (the national orchestra) and Mro Michael Laus. Early 2007 saw yet another collaboration come to fruition, this time together with Vocalise, when, for the first time in Malta, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Parts I, II & III were performed at St John's Co-Cathedral under the direction of international conductor and musicologist Hans Jürgen Nagel.
In November 1999, the St Monica Choir became the first and only Maltese choir to win the prestigious Malta International Choir Festival. Delegated to represent Malta during the first edition of the choral Olympics held in Linz, Austria, the following year, the choir was awarded bronze 1 from amongst over twenty participants in the mixed choirs’ category. September 2001 marked yet another milestone in the choir’s history when it launched its own compilation of varied musical compositions on CD entitled Expressions.
In 2002, the choir was invited to make a guest appearance during a choral festival at the Dorog House of Culture in Hungary. Two years later, the choir was once again invited to participate in the “XIII Festival de Musica en Navidad” organized by the Cultural Department of Madrid. The St Monica Choir, the only foreign choir invited to participate, held its concert at the Sagrada Familia church in Madrid.
In 2004, to commemorate its 40th Anniversary since its foundation, the choir launched a comprehensive website and a documentary on DVD encompassing forty years of existence and achievements. The choir’s own productions of its Easter and Christmas concerts, helped raise further funds for the missions. In 2006, the St Monica Choir performed a concert in Haddington, Scotland to help raise funds for the local church there.
The choir is an affiliated member of Förderverein Interkultur, organizers of the Choir Olympics and other Musica Mundi concerts worldwide.
St monica choir ghanjiet maltin maltese traditional 2007
Sr Beniamina Portelli - Founder & Director
Hailing from the city of Vittoriosa, Sr Beniamina, baptized Marion, is the eldest amongst 5 daughters and a son born to Carmelo and Ines née Calleja. The Portelli family had to take refuge in Siggiewi during the ravaging years of World War II.
Sr Beniamina started her religious life with the Augustinian nuns at the age of sixteen years. The beginning of her musical studies goes back eleven years earlier, that is, when she was only five years old. Sr Beniamina pursued her studies with Sr Teresina Saliba and conducted her finals and LRSM under the guidance of Ms Bascetta.
Being a strong believer in the constant need to pursue educational activities, Sr Beniamina attended various courses both abroad and in Malta. Worth mentioning are: the Vatican City in connection with choral singing (1953); Derbyshire regarding professional music teaching (1964); Harrogate for choral direction (1983); the London Royal Schools of Music with Mr A Kelly (1985); Edinburgh and London with EPTA (1993) and an LLCM for choral direction for which she was awarded the Society of Music Medal, having been the first successful candidate worldwide.
In the early 1950s, Sr Beniamina spent a year teaching music in Rome. On her return to Malta, she was immediately involved in music teaching. Being an enthusiastic and energetic person, she tried to broaden her students’ horizons by encouraging their involvement in a wider musical spectrum. She began to organize end-of-year concerts so that the students could experience different dimensions of music, such as dancing, choral singing and the setting up of an accordion band.
This has been recognized by institutions and authorities alike. In September 2000, the Mosta Local Council conferred upon Sr Beniamina “Gieh il-Mosta”, an honorary tribute, and in November of the same year, she was awarded the Society Music Medal by the Council of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce. On 13 December 2003 at the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta, the then President of the Republic Profs. Guido de Marco, decorated Sr Beniamina with the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika, a medal which is part of the honours system of Malta, in appreciation of her incessant efforts to promote music and the establishment of the renowned St Monica Choir.
Through her teaching, local music is indebted to Sr Beniamina for having had such students as composer Ray Agius, virtuoso pianists Mark Darnford and Stefan Cassar who also teaches music in France, John Attard who teaches music in Austria and Fr Aurelio Mule’ Stagno who obtained a distinction in all his examinations and is presently studying abroad. Others include Claire Massa, Simone Attard and Maureen Galea who graduated from the University of Malta. Claire is an established contralto solosit whilst Simone, a teacher at the Johann Strauss School of Music, is very much sought after both for choral teaching and direction as well as a musician. Maureen is pursuing her studies in the United Kingdom after having been awarded a scholarship in Florence.
Administration
Administrative committee is elected by the choristers for a two-year term, chaired by Sr Beniamina.
Voice-leaders sub-committee is headed by a coordinator acting in close liaison with the committee. Leaders from each voice-section are selected by Sr Beniamina in consultation with the coordinator and the committee president.
The 11th Malta International Choir Festival - Gold Award
Vying for the prize on 12 November 1999 along with the St Monica Choir during the final night held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, were the Lakatamia Municipal Choir from Cyprus, the Děčínský pěvecký sbor from the Czech Republic and the St. Stythians Male Voice Choir, Cornwall, UK.
The choice of the repertoire involved a detailed analysis of past experiences and results previously obtained by the choir during such festivals. Keeping in mind that the adjudicating panel rates participants for the test piece carrying 25 points, another 50 points for general interpretation and 10 and 15 points for presentation and the choice of the repertoire respectively, possible compositions were short-listed. Apart from Magnus Dominus by Benigno Zerafa and the test piece, Quam Dilecta Tabernacula Tua Domine by Carlo Diacono (1876–1942), the choir’s performance included Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity, The Bare Necessities from the motion picture The Jungle Book and negro spirituals Hush, somebody’s Calling My Name and I Want Jesus. The adjudicating panel, made up of musical experts from Croatia, Italy and Germany, finally made known the results. Theirs was a unanimous decision that the St Monica Choir’s performance was the best for its interpretation of the test piece, choice of repertoire and general interpretation. The Czech choir was best in presentation. The St Monica Choir clinched the first prize and gold trophy, the first time ever that a Maltese choir had won the Malta International Choir Festival.
Choir Olympics 2000 - Bronze
In Linz, Austria, the choir attended the official opening ceremony of the 1st Edition of the Choir Olympics at the multifunctional Design Center. During the Friendship Concert and the qualifying competition the choristers had the opportunity to meet choristers from Austria, Greece and Japan.
Expressions – The CD
Expressions is the choir's first CD.