The Choir and Orchestra of our Society are dedicated to enhance the quality of life in our community through our musical concerts. Our mission is to promote and propagate an appreciation of classical, semi-classical, sacred and contemporary music. In doing so, we give our members the opportunity to perform music in an annual series of concerts.
In addition to performing the classical orchestral repertoire, we also perform new music by living composers. We actively partner up with other local groups to present drama, literature and dancing performances. Moreover, an important part of our overall mission is to encourage young musicians and students through our Junior Choir and Orchestra.
Before joining the Choir and Orchestra of our Society, students and members must attend one-to-one lessons in violin, viola, cello, clarinet, flute, horn, trumpet, trombone and piano, voice and theory of music. Most of these students then sit for their exams provided by the Associated Boards of the Royal School of Music.
Our annual main musical event is held on the 1st of September as part of the town’s festivities in honour of Our Lady of Victories whose feast is celebrated on the 8th of September. This musical concert has been held since 1992 and forms part of a Cultural Agreement with the Mellieħa Local Council. We are also responsible for the main Church functions, such as Christmas and Easter, in our Parish Church. The Choir and Orchestra are under the direction of our resident conductor Mro. Michael Bonanno.
Another annual concert presented by the Choir of our Society is the annual Christmas concert held at the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa, under the direction of our choir director Ms. Suzanne Bonello. The annual concert by the Junior Choir and Orchestra is held on the 1st August under the direction of Mro. Wayne Bartolo.
We also reach out to the senior citizen population through concerts in venues such as senior centres and retirement homes during different periods throughout the year.
Since our founding in 1947, we have been one of the leading performing arts organisations in the North of Malta. We believe that the presence of a choir and orchestra in a community is a vital necessity, a defining spirit of the cultural life of a community. As such, a choir and orchestra are a marker of the cultural and educational development of our community in Mellieħa.
If you would like to form part of the Choral and Orchestral Society Maria Bambina, contact us through this website, send us an email on http://www.choirandorchestra.org, call us on 79521970 or simply come to our premises at 92, Parish Street, Mellieħa.
Choral and Orchestral Society Maria Bambina 