Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1540024
6 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 3 OCTOBER 2025 CULTURE Gozo's Gaulitanus Choir returns GOZO'S Gaulitanus Choir is currently marking its 35 years of music-making. A key celebratory event was a concert tour in Czechia between the 11th and the 16th September. This concert tour – the choir's 26th foray overseas – initially ensued from a Gaulitana: A Festival of Music artistic collaboration with the Czech 'Halir Trio' and its leader Eduardo Garcia Salas, who was fundamental for the concert tour's organisation. However, this collabora- tion was eventually substantially broad- ened to include 3 Czech choral groups: Prague's 'En Arché Komorní Sbor', Pl- zeň's 'Česká Píseň Plzeň', and Jihlava's 'Pěvecké Sdružení Campanula Jihlava'. Indeed, each of these 3 choirs organized a concert for the Gozitan choir and also participated in it. Whereas each Czech choir opened the proceedings on its own before leaving the stage to the Gaulita- nus, the cherry on the cake was the grand ending of each concert when the Czech choir joined the Gozitan choir for the 'In- nu lil Għawdex' – which must have been a first for any foreign choir – and the Czech song 'Potěšení'. The first concert was held at Prague's St Salvator Evangelical Church – so much renowned for its excellent acoustics – to- gether with Prague's 'En Arché Komorní Sbor' led by prominent Czech musician Vojtěch Jouza. A second concert was held at Plzeň's Church of St John of Nep- omuk – an important cultural landmark in the city – jointly with the 'Česká Píseň Plzeň', also conducted by Vojtěch Jouza. The third concert was in Jihlava's Goth- ic Town Hall – the iconic landmark of the home city of the great composer and conductor Gustav Mahler – along the 'Pěvecké Sdružení Campanula Jihlava' conducted by Pavel Jirák. Towards the end of each concert mementos were very warmly exchanged. The collaborative spirit was further enhanced when the Czech and Maltese choir members socialized during the post-concert dinners. This surely reached a most lively climax in Jihlava, which was also the Gaulitanus' last night in Czechia, when both choirs even entertained each other with some fun singing. These concerts apart, the Gaulitanus Choir also had the opportunity to per- form in two of the most prestigious ven- ues in Prague and indeed in the whole Czech Republic. Indeed, the choir's first artistic event in Prague was at the Met-