Times of Malta meets Gillian Zammit who will be directing Teatru Salesjan’s adult community choir for over 40s commencing on April 19 and being held on Monday evenings, culminating in a performance at the end of June. 

What are your aims for this multinational choir?

I believe there is a strong social aspect in belonging to a choir. The camaraderie of singing in a group that is working to create harmonies, where every singer has a responsibility to themselves and, more importantly, to the rest of the group, creates a deep bond.

Music brings people together and singing, in particular, helps unlock emotions and can help reduce stress levels. Singing can also improve mental alertness, concentration and also memory in older adults.

Creating a choir made up of various nationalities will also give expats the opportunity to meet people and form friendships that they might not have been able to form otherwise.

You are targeting the 40+ age group to form part of this choir. What are your reasons for this?

There are a lot of opportunities for younger performers at the moment and I think there are a lot of older people who might have always had a love for the arts and, in this case, particularly singing, but not necessarily had the opportunity to develop or use their skills and express themselves through their voice.

What kind of repertoire are you planning to cover?

The choir will perform a selection of contemporary, gospel and classical choral music from various countries. All the repertoire will be performed in their original languages and will offer the singers a chance to enjoy learning a variety of styles.

Do people need to be versed in music, or able to read notations in order to join the choir?

It will definitely help if members have a basic ability to read music, however, it is not a requirement.

What makes this choir different from other local choirs?

This choir is aimed at the community rather than looking to be an amateur or professional choir. It is there primarily to offer members of the community an opportunity to make music but also to socialise.

What is your personal interest in this project?

I have always enjoyed working with choirs, whether it be children or adults, and have wanted to be involved in some kind of musical community project for a while, so I am very happy to be a part of this programme.

Can you tell us about your choiring experience?

Till now, the choirs that I have worked with have been either children’s choirs such as the BOV Joseph Calleja Choir, which I have trained from its inception in 2010, and most recently the children’s choir for St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation.  I have trained a number of adult choirs for operatic productions and am very involved with Teatru Manoel’s Monteverdi Project.

E-mail education@tsmalta.com for more information and/or booking an audition slot. The closing date to apply is April 2.