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On the occasion of the 2004
Olympic Games to be held in
Athens in Summer 2004, the Hellenikon
Idyllion invited the Chorus
Urbanus to give concerts in
Greece during the month of September
2003. The Choir was invited
over on the strength of its
past projects as well on its
present artistic credentials.

The
Cultural Centre Hellenikon Idyllion
has organised a musical competition
for original compositions with
the theme "Olympic
Games of Music". The
aim of this competition was
to transform the Olympic spirit
into music by means of musical
compositions inspired by the
five original Olympic sports
of Ancient Greece, namely athletics,
jumping, discus throwing, javelin
and wrestling, all of them reflected
in the poems of Pindar, a poet
from Ancient Greece.
This
competition was open to international
composers and the text had to
be in the original ancient Greek
of Pindar. The competition was
won by Andrew March, a young
British composer.
In
order to promote the winning
compositions, Hellenikon Idyllion
has invited various choirs and
orchestras to interpret the
winning compositions. After
pertinent srutiny, Hellenikon
Idyllion specifically invited
the Chorus Urbanus to interpret
the winning piece Five Songs
of Pindar by the young
British composer Andrew March.
In
the words of Andreas Drekis,
artistic director of Hellenikon
Idyllion, "the bold
cultural initiatives of the
Chorus Urbanus have strengthened
our choice in view of its artistic
integrity, to perform such a
demanding work."
Andrew
March's winning composition
was premiered during a concert
in Kipotheatro Nikea in the
province of Athens on Friday,
19 September 2003 at 9.00pm.
Attending for this concert one
could notice Andrew March himself,
who flew over from the UK specifically
to attend to the choir's premiere.
as well as the runners-up, the
members of the jury of the competition,
members of the direction of
Hellenikon Idyllion, representatives
of the Ministry of Culture as
well as the Mayor of Nikea.
The adjudicating jury was composed
of Themistocles Sernia from
the National Opera Theatre of
Athens, German conservatoire
director Alois Springer and
Professor Werner Schultz of
the University of Music and
Art in Vienna.

For
this concert the Choir was under
the musical direction of Mro
John Galea. The performance
included music from the Choir's
versatile repertoire of operatic
and a cappella works.
The purity of stylistic performance
and great attention to dynamic
details were widely appreciated
by all those present.The Choir
was accompanied by its soloists,
namely soprano Yvonne Galea,
mezzo soprano Antonella Mercieca,
tenor Mario Portelli and bass
Noel Galea. The climax of this
concert was the interpretation
of March's winning composition
which was met with a standing
ovation by those present. Andrew
March himself congratulated
the Choir for his faithful interpretation
of his piece. The concert also
included instrumental compositions
by Zdenek Pololanik, Igor stravinsky
and John Galea which were performed
by pianist Lydia Ellul Buttigieg,
and violinists Mariella Cassar,
Josette Bajada and Charleen
Caruana, members of the Chorus
Urbanus.

Another
memorable concert by the Chorus
Urbanus took place on Saturday,
20 September 2003 in the prestigious
concert hall of the Archaelogical
Museum in the city of Egion.
The awe-inspiring magnificence
of the various exhibited artifacts
surrounding the sides of the
auditorium provided a sublime
backdrop for a resounding repeat
performance of the Five
Songs of Pindar.
Various
distinguished patrons attended
namely the Mayor of the city,
various dignitaries of the Greek
Orthodox Church, the winner,
various professors from the
University of Patras, the members
of the jury and the internationally-acclaimed
Greek opera singer, bass Giorgio
Pappas. The latter followed
the concert with great attention
and at the end of the concert
he personally went to congratulate
Mro Galea for the high quality
singing and discipline of such
a formidable ensemble. He told
Mro Galea: "Avete un
coro d'opera eccellente con
solisti bravi. E' un
vero coro d'opera"
("You have an excellent
opera choir with very good soloists.
This is a real opera choir").
The
Choir also sang during a liturgical
service in the Roman Catholic
Church dedicated to St Andrew
in Patra on Sunday 21 September
2003. It interpreted the Missa
Brevis by Boyer
as well as other polyphonic
motets both in Latin and in
Maltese.
During
this choral tour, apart from
their singing engagements, the
choir members had the opportunity
to visit various cultural and
historical places in the region
namely Athens and its majestic
Acropolis, AcroCorinth, Mycenae,
Nafplion, the Mega Spilao Monastery,
the Cave of Lakes in Kastria,
Kalavryhia and Delphi. The choir
also visited the ancient theatre
of Epidauros and was rewarded
with the rarely granted permission
to sing in this ancient site
which boasts of extremely perfect
acoustics.
During
its stay in Athens, the Chorus
Urbanus was accompanied by the
Citadel Video Communications
crew. headed by Alvin Scicluna,
who filmed the entire tour and
singing engagements.
This
sixth choral tour for the Chorus
Urbanus was a very positive
experience and certainly continued
to add to the lustre of the
choir's reputation as one of
Malta's foremost cultural exponents.
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