Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1055420
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 NOVEMBER 2018 CULTURE ENVIRONMENT AS the rain showers finally soak the parched land after three years of virtually desert rations, the billions of seeds waiting in the ground suspended animation begin to sprout in wild abandon. Contrary to the mass winter sleep induced by frigid weather in latitudes further north, here much of nature actu- ally wakes up to suck in nutrient-rich sustenance from the wet soil. Much of our flora is now in leaf, some already in flower, and one of these is the friar's cowl (M. garni tal-pipa). The friar's cowl grows low on the ground in well-watered, sheltered spots, though not at all averse to autumn sunlight. It is a common species, often forming carpets of glossy bright green almost plastic-like foliage. Many are already displaying their flowering bodies: strange hooded tubes striped brown- and-white, looking a bit like miniature upside-down saxo- phones... with a long protruding tongue! Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 539: Find out more and try our delicious recipe at www.foemalta.org/fab/ Text and Photo Victor Falzon 539 - WHAT'S IN SEASON? 636. FRIAR'S COWL Malta gets its own national choir MALTA'S national choir – named KorMalta – will offi- cially be launched in Decem- ber with free public concerts in Valletta and Siġġiewi. Its debut concert – Motets & Madrigals: From Sacred to Profane – will be held at the St Paul's Anglican Pro- Cathedral in Valletta on Sun- day, 2 December, starting at 6pm. A repeat performance will take place on Tuesday, 4 December at the Siġġiewi Parish Church, starting at 7.30pm. National and state choirs can be found in many coun- tries around the world, and while Malta does boast a number of choirs, the need for it to follow suit was felt by Arts Council Malta. The council has recently overseen the establishment of a num- ber of public cultural organi- sations, with the setting up of national dance ensemble ŻfinMalta and national thea- tre company Teatru Malta preceding KorMalta's own. While KorMalta is not a full-time choir – large-scale professional choirs are a rar- ity – choristers do receive payment for any rehears- als and performances that they're involved in. But its establishment will ensure that choristers will regularly be provided with professional training, to help raise the bar for choral sing- ing in the Maltese islands. The first masterclasses, overseen by internationally- acclaimed English tenor and tutor Nicolas Mulroy, are taking place this month, in preparation for the official launch. The choir will be responsi- ble for the Malta Philharmon- ic Orchestra's choral projects – it absorbed the MPO's own choir, supplementing its ranks through public audi- tions – but will also regularly organise solo concerts, start- ing with its debut. Overseas tours are also in the pipeline. To showcase the choir, Kor- Malta's debut will be an a cap- pella concert, featuring works performed by the full choir and others written for smaller vocal ensembles. To make full use of the acoustic properties of the concert venues, choris- ters will position themselves in a number of areas during the concert. The choir will be tackling sa- cred and secular choral music spanning five centuries, rang- ing from Renaissance works from composers including Palestrina and Monteverdi to contemporary works such as Morten Lauridsen's O Mag- num Mysterium and a choral reworking of Elgar's moving Nimrod. Admission to both perfor- mances will be free of charge, and no reservation is re- quired.