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The
year 1977 saw the Choir setting foot for the first time abroad. This feat,
besides being the Choirs first of its kind, was also the first time
a Choir hailing from Gozo, sang abroad. The Choir was then accompanying the La Stella Band for a tour in Italy and Switzerland, and had the occasion
to sing in two of
Italys most magnificent churches, the San Giovanni Laterano in
Rome and in the impressive Milan Cathedral.
The
Choir sang during a High Mass in the Milan Duomo commemorating the 400th
Anniversary of the Consecration of this Cathedral, celebrated by two cardinals
and a number of bishops on the 13th August 1977. It also sang in another
High Mass on St. Mary's Feast Day on the 15th August at the San Giovanni in
Laterano, Rome, the Cathedral of Rome with which St. George's Basilica of
Victoria, Gozo is affiliated. During
this tour the Choir also visited Como (Italy) and Lugano (Switzerland).
During this choral tour, the
Choir was under the direction of Can. Joseph Gauci, the founder of the
Choir and its first musical director.
This
tour, merely two years after the Choir's formation served to inject a morale
boost to the Choir and it instilled the courage in its members to face
future challenges with more determination. It was the prelude to further
choral tours which were to enrichen the Choir's history.

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