Mro. John Galea
John Galea was born in 1960,
he started his musical education under Ms. Maria
Zammit and later on with Ms. Bice Bisazza, obtaining
the fellowship of Trinity Collage(London) and
the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (London)
in Pianoforte performance. He graduated with honours
at Durham University studying composition with
John Gardner, James Ellis and James Murray Brown.
In 1976, John Galea was awarded
the National Music Competition Gold Medal for
the Under- 18 category and in 1978 he made his
debut at the Manoel Theatre conducting spectacular
performances of lehar’s Die Lustige Witwe
produced by the Astra Theatre Stage Company. As
musical director of this company (1972-92) he
has conducted Johann Strauss’ The Great
Waltz and Richard Kalman’s Die Czardas Furstein.
Since 1978 John Galea has been
guest conductor with the Manoel Theatre Orchestra
on a regular basis. He has also made other appearances
as concert pianist and accompanist, taking part
in various recitals at the Sala Isouard at the
Manoel Theatre Foyer.
John Galea studied contemporary
composition techniques with Charles Camilleri.
His compositions have been performed in Malta,
Greece, France, Italy and the UK. His debut as
composer/pianist in London took place in 1989
at the Holy trinity Church, Sloane Square.
Galea was musical director of
Opera Studio in Malta (1990-93), collaborating
with Professor Dobreva, former Dean at the State
Music Academy in Sofia, in realising the first
Maltese performances of Mozart’s Cosi’
fan tutte and Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio
at the Manoel Theatre. Both operas were given
repeat performances during consecutive Maltafest
seasons.
Since 1979, John Galea has been
the musical director of the Chorus Urbanus. The
choir has performed with resounding success at
San Giovanni al Laterano, the Duomo di Milano,
St. Peter’s Basilica, Aula Paola VI (Vtican
City), San Lorenzo in Damaso (Rome), Worksop Collage
(Notts) and St. Barnabas R.C. Cathedral in Nottingham
(UK), Sofia and Rila (Bulgaria), Vienna (Austria)
Szentendre and Budapest (Hungary).
During 1992, John Galea became
the first Maltese composer to sit on the adjudicating
panel of the Valentino Bucchi Music Competition
in Rome, where he also read a paper entitled The
Clarinet in Contemproray Mediterranean Music.
This paper was hailed as a ‘fresh and challenging
vision’ by Prof. Liliana Panella, Head of
Music History at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia.
He was also one of the judges adjudicating the
‘Melita Cable Band Competition’ and
the ‘Festival tal-Kanzunetta Maltija’.
John Galea’s music features
on various CD’s namely: Discover Malta published
by Discover International (West Germany), Slovak
Radiio Orchestra conducted by Michael Laus; Anthology
of Maltese Music and Maltese Piano Music both
published by Dial Records, featuring Simon Abdilla
(cello), John Galea and Murray McLahlan (piano);
brass and Voices published by Chorus Urbanus featuring
the Thoresby Colliery Brass Ensemble and Chorus
Urbanus conducted by John Galea.
During 1993-96 John Galea was
awarded an Italian Government scholarship enabling
him to further his studies in musicology at the
Scuola di Pavia. During this period John Galea
has been invited to conduct the Coro della Lirica
Ponchielli and the renowned Coro Polifonico Cremonese
with whom he has collaborated at the Teatro Ponchielli
in Cremona. While studying musicology, John Galea
pursued a two-year composition course at the Fondazione
Romanini in Brescia studying with Franco Donatoni.
In 1997 John Galea was instrumental
in introducing children’s opera on the local
scene. He has conducted singers from the Westminster
Prep School and the chamber ensemble from the
Royal Academy of Music London in performances
of John Gardner’s Bel and the Dragon, which
opera proved to be a record box-office hit at
the Manoel Theatre.
During 1998-99, John Galea was
appointed as one of the rotating conductors of
the National Orchestra, appointed with effect
from August 1999-2000.
During 1999, John Galea was
commissioned to prepare a performing edition with
critical commentary of Isouard’s Messa Leggiera
(1795) which was performed in Malta during March
1999 during the Manoel Theatre Opera Festival.
This work has been recently recorded with the
Sofia Symphony Orchestra. John Galea’s own
composition “Ggantija” for Soprano
(Yvonne Galea), narrator (Edward Scerri), Oracle
Voice (bass Noel Galea) and the Chorus Urbanus
will also feature together with the Sofia Symphony
Orchestra. These two works will be released soon
on two CD’s.
During 2001, he wrote the book
Charles Camilleri: Ten Piano Sonatinas and Taqsim
for Two Pianos – A Study on their Mediterranean
Genetics published by Roberton Publications, London.
During 1988-1992, John
Galea was seconded to the Gozo School of Music
where he taught pianoforte Performance to the
advanced level pupils. Since 1993, John Galea
was given a full time appointment, lecturing at
the Music Studies Deparment, Mediterranean Institute
at the University of Malta. Earlier this year,
John Galea was also invited to lecture at the
Universita’ degli Studi di Catania.
Intro
