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 Our
musical director has returned from
Slovakia where he was invited to
adjudicate the 19th edition
of the biennial International Voice
Competition of the prestigious
"Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský Competition"
held in the city of Trnava, his
birthplace. This engagement has proved
to be a very enriching experience where
Mro. Galea shared his keen judgments
with other academic artists in the
performing arts.
This year's international jury included
other internationally acclaimed names:
Pia Gunn Anckar, from the Music Academy
of Turku, Finland; Magdaléna Hajóssyová,
Czech Republic; Zlatica Livorová,
Slovakia; Prof. Akihiko Mori, Tokyo
Conservatoire of Music, Japan; Guy
Montavon, general intendant of Erfurt
Theatre, Germany; Alain Nonat, the
director of Lyrichoreo21from Canada;
Axel Joliet, from the Leipzig-Oper,
Germany and Kaspar Zehnder, principal
conductor of The Prague Chamber
Orchestra, Switzerland. Prof. Eva
Blahova, from the Bratislava Academy who
is also the President of the
competition, chaired the Jury, while
Elena Kittnarova` was the Honorary
Chairwoman of the Jury.
The competition was spread over four
days and was divided into two
categories:
Category A: singers from 17 – 25 years
and Category B: singers under 26 – 35
years.
The mission of the competition is to search for young talented
interpreters of concert vocal art,
stimulate their further artistic growth,
promote concert vocal works with an
accent on the artistic activity of
Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský and select
the participants for other international
singing competitions. The numerous
awards of this competition were given to
18 singers out of a total of 120
participants. The various rounds of the
competition were held in the Hall of
Mirrors of the Trnava Theatre, while the
Laureates’ Concert was held in the
Theatre. This concert was broadcast live
on Slovak Radion. After the concert the
winners and members of the jury and
other distinguished guests were treated
to a sumptuous reception hosted by the
Lord Mayor of Trnava, Mr. Štefan Bošnák.
The members of the Jury panel were also
invited to drinks at the Town Hall where
the mayor presented souvenirs to all the
members who signed the Distinguished
Visitors Book at the Municipality. The
members of the Jury also paid their
respects at the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský
monument, next to St. Nicholas’ Church
where the composer was engaged as
‘maestro di cappella’ and composed the
bulk of his vocal works.
During his stay, Mro. Galea was
interviewed by the national radio
'Slovak Radion' and the station aired
excerpts from his compositions on CD. He
was asked about his activities in Malta
and the Chorus Urbanus. As a follow-up
from this interview, a meeting with
Gabriel Kalapoš,
musical director of the Cantica Nova
choir and Chairperson of the
Department of Adult Choirs in the Slovak
Association of Choirs.
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