The choir organized its annual Christmas event of ‘Carols by Candlelight' which has now reached its sixth edition. Schola Cantorum Jubilate seeks perfection in presenting its concerts and productions and all those who attended could confirm this. Everything was planned to perfection and this was all due to all the hard work and planning which started well ahead the magical night, precisely in summer.
The organizing committee within Schola Cantorum Jubilate asked Fr. Joseph Bajada to be the artistic designer for this year's edition. His idea was put forward by a hard working team led by John Attard. The setting requested around fifty candles hanged from the ceiling with some of them moving upwards or downwards by means of specific equipment and other floral and candle arrangements on the sides of the stage. The concert started with a quintet interpreting ‘Silent Night', an arrangement by Antony Pitts. Another five member of the Schola, holding two candles each, made some movements (choreography by Jennifer Attard) to the music. Then the concert continued with some pieces a cappella : ‘En Natus Est Emmanuel' (Prætorius), ‘Puer Natus' (Bartolucci), ‘Carol of the Drum' ( Davis ) with Francesco Bonello as the drummer boy and ‘Il-Benniena tal-Bambin' (Portelli) was composed specifically for the occasion. Then, Mro. Stephen Attard accompanied the choir on the organ during ‘Personent Hodie' (Piae Cantiones) where the voices of boys ring out pleasantly in praise of the Child born from a Virgin. At the end of this part of the concert, H. E. Mgr. Mario Grech, bishop of Gozo, read the letter of St. Paul to Galatians (3, 26 – 4.7) in occasion of the Pauline Year. Then it was time for Joseph Camilleri (organist) and Joseph Xerri (trumpeter) to give their performance from the organ loft. The pieces chosen ‘Dearest Jesus, we are thine' and ‘Sleepers awake' are both compositions by Krebs who was a scholar of Bach. During these interpretations, Deborah Mercieca danced to the music, presenting her own choreography. After these instrumental pieces, Albert Buttigieg interpreted the ‘O Holy Night' (Adams) and Marouska Attard sung two solo pieces ‘Still, Still, Still' (Boytim) and ‘A Christmas Cradle Song' (Hamblen). Then the two affirmed soloists interpreted ‘English Advent Carol', a duet by Lieberngen based on the haunting melody of Scarborough Fair.
The last part of the concert, opened with ‘What Child is this' with an arrangement by Paul Portelli which requested the voice of a soprano accompanied by the Choir. It was dedicated to Maria Attard of Guzeppa Debono Home who was honoured by the award of ‘Gieh Ghawdex' which is assigned yearly by the Circolo Gozitano. Maria Attard was chosen for her dedication towards the running of the Home, in providing the suitable professional services to single mothers and their families and in promoting a culture in favour of life. The concert continued with ‘Adeste Fidelis' (Wade), ‘Shepherd's Pipe Carol' (Rutter), ‘Joy to the World' (Mason), ‘Unto us a Child is born' (Handel) and ‘Hallelujah' chorus from the Messiah (Handel). Members from the Jubilate Chamber Orchestra joined the soloists and choir. These were: Stephen Attard (organ/piano), Jessica Sant (violin), Laura Cioffi (flute/piccolo) and Joseph Xerri (trumpet). During the last piece - ‘Hallelujah', Doris Grech, Raymond Bonello and the four months old Claudia Grech represented the Holy Family. The compere of the soirée was Marvic Bajada.
Right after the concert, the audience entered the foyer where an exhibition of Greek icons was on show. This was organized by Fr. Paul Darmanin of the Centre of Animation and Communication (CAK) within the Franciscans. On leaving the foyer, the audience found its self in the cloister with the banquet tables nicely decorated for the occasion. The five course meal freshly prepared by the Ta' Frenc Restaurant Chefs complemented the evening. Everyone had a pleasant evening and words of praise to Schola Cantorum Jubilate. They kept saying that they truly felt the spirit of Christmas and kept encouraging the organizers for further productions.
