Intro

The first Director of the Band was Guiseppe Borg, the son of a famous Maltese musician who had helped to start the ball rolling with the setting up of a number of village band clubs. Although the main aim of the setting up of this band club was to help in the outside festivities that were organised in connection with the feast of St. Dominic, other concerts started to be held as well. In fact, the first time that the band played to the public was on Sunday, 23 May 1875, even though this seems to have been by invitation, one can say that the new band club had started on a good note.

From then onwards, one can say that they were always present in the participation of the feast of their patron saint, as well as on other occasions.

The band did not participate only in particular feasts, but was invited to do so in various others as well. We notice that during the first years they used to go and play during the feast day of St. Paul, the other main feast of Valletta. They were also invited to go and play some music during the evenings at various localities over Malta. Most frequently, they would play in Valletta in one of the squares of the capital. While during the summer months they would also be invited to go and play at the Sliema waterfront.

Another important aspect of the local band clubs, was that they also started to visit abroad and perform to various Maltese communities living around the Mediterranean shoreline. Some of these visits were also in order to participate in International Competitions. The King’s Own Band Club was amongst the first of the local bands to start paying visits abroad. These include Reggio, Catania, Palermo, Acireale, Tunis, Avola, Algiers, Corfu, Trieste, Fiume, Grammichele, and Como.

During these visits the band was not only welcomed but it was honoured as well. It still bears the title of Eccelenza (Excellence), a tribute to the high level that the band had achieved in Algiers (1912) while participating in the Grand Concours International de Musique.

Today the band is composed of about 95 musicians. The band performs in a very busy schedule which fills up most of the year. In fact the band starts its activities in March in preparation for the feast of St. Joseph in Rabat – Malta right through October/November in a grand finale in the form of the Annual Concert, which has become very popular with music lovers.

In December 2002, Mro. John Galea B.Mus.(Hons)(Dunelm), F.T.C.L., L.R.S.M. was appointed bandmaster, succeeding Mro. Carmelo Caruana who retired after 29 years.

Mro. Caruana’s connection with the band dates back from his youth when he used to play the clarino. He later served as assistant to Major Anthony Aquilina, till 1973 when he was appointed Aquilina’s Successor.

List Of Band Masters

Mro. Chev. Guiseppe Borg 1874-1880
Mro. Filippo Galea 1880-1886
Mro. G. W. Malfiggiani 1886-1888
Mro. Corrado Ronzani 1888-1890
Mro. Geatano Grech 1890-1892
Mro. Chev. Alfred P. Hare 1892-1908
Mro. Comm. Aurelio Doncich 1908-1930
Mro. Francesco Gobet 1930-1937
Mro. Guiseppe Casapinta 1938-1956
Major Anthony Aquilina 1956-1973
Mro. Carmelo Caruana 1973-2002
Mro. John Galea 2002

CV of Current Band Master

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.

The Band’s program for 2004

During this year the Band has been invited to perform during the following occasions: