It was 100% in-house and un-promoted to the wider audience but a special recital nonetheless. Friday 22nd April 2022 was an important date in the academic calendar of our youngsters at the Aurora Opera House and our parent organisation, the Leone Philharmonic Society.

Our Educational Mission

Perhaps unbenown to many, and perhaps more important than the running of an opera house, one of the main priorities in the mission statement of our parent organisation – the Leone Philharmonic Society – is the quality education in music and the arts to young audiences. To this end, the Society provides free tuition to children in theory of music and a number of musical instruments, generally those found within the traditional formation of a local windband. To these, one should add the junior chorus, that goes by the name of Aurora Youth Choir, which generally comprises young girls between 8 and 15 years of age.

What’s the point?

Whether the instrument pupils proceed to joining the band or an orchestra, whether the chorus children go on to join the adult chorus, that is technically beside the point. It is always a welcomed addition when it happens, but technically, it remains beside the point. The point of all this is to nurture within our youngsters – boys and girls – the love for the art.

This could very well be seen on Friday 22nd April when these youngsters were called to perform in front of a homely audience. Technically, pupils and audience shared the stage that created quite an intimate space, not withstanding the fact that all chairs had been taken up and one had to find a way how to accommodate one and all.

A spotlight on young musicians

A number of pupils performed short solo pieces while a small ensemble, directed by Josef Attard, provided some more elaborate musical interludes. The ensemble included young musicians who already joined the ranks of the Leone Band, as well as others who are still going through their classes in a bid to make it to the senior band.

The audience was headed by Society President Dr Michael Caruana and fellow committee members, Colin Attard, resident conductor the Leone Band and Aurora Opera House and friends and family of the young performers.

The programme also included items by the Aurora Youth Choir, directed by Matthew Sultana.

The sheer beauty of this event was that it was 100% in-house – in content, in production, in logistics and anything else that was offered on the night. And the audience could really appreciate that. It was nothing out of this world, but it offered our young ones the joy of performing and the drive to further one’s studies and practice. It remained un-promoted not much because we don’t believe in the product but rather because it was a safe and familiar audience that we wanted to give these up-and-coming musicians. When the time is ripe, they’ll be put forth for the attention and the appreciation of the general public, with pride and pleasure. In the meantime, the Aurora stage will continue to be theirs as much as it will be to the big world-class stars alike.