Extraordinary indeed

Ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things - all you need is an inner belief in yourself and you can make a difference. That is the theme chosen this year by the organising committee of Voices for their biannual event. I made it a point to attend the opening night last Wednesday at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

I knew I was in for a treat and Voices lived up to expectations. The concert has been entitled "Voices Xtraordinaire" - emphasising the theme "Ordinary People doing Xtraordinary Things". I am proud of the fact that ever since Voices gave their first performance in June 1991, I have always been there. Their concerts have been held every two years and are definitely something to look forward to.

The acting chairman of the organising committee, Roger Calleja, who was busy ensuring that all logistics are in place on opening night, in his foreword to the event's souvenir programme, rightly pays tribute to two very close friends of Voices who have recently passed away.

Only last month, Louis Naudi, founding member of Voices as well as chairman of the organising committee for many years, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. A few weeks earlier, Mario Ellul, one of Voices' more energetic and enthusiastic singers passed away while doing what he loved best - performing live in front of an audience.

Roger's sentiments in his foreword were echoed through a tribute during the performance and are shared by all those who have a love for music.

The memory of Louis and Mario lives on through Voices. This event brings together hundreds of young, and a few not so young, people together and energises them as well as their audiences with a positive spirit. Their happenings are an 'ode to joy' - a celebration of the beauty of life, not only because of the enthusiasm, the smiles and the cheerful mood that they communicate to every person present, but also because of the fact that it is all happening for a worthy cause.

Through various sponsors, Voices seek to cover the production costs and then the money paid in by the audience together with donations is channelled towards causes that are identified by the organisers.

That has been the magic formula behind the happiness that emanates from all the persons who make Voices happen. When the first concert was held in June 1991 at St Aloysius College, about Lm3,000 were raised and donated to the Jesuit community for the building of the college's new Sixth Form Complex. It was an immediate success and an 'encore' was held that very year in October at the University auditorium, under the auspices of the Secretariat for Youth and Culture, to raise funds for the Youth Against Drugs campaign.

Thirteen years later, the total amount collected by Voices has exceeded a quarter of a million liri, which has been channelled to voluntary organisations and charities in Malta and abroad.

As the curtain rose on this year's event, it was clear that there have been various changes. Tony Vella, who has directed the choir for all these years, had to relinquish his post after he accepted to serve the country through a position that requires public trust, dedication and rectitude.

Tony had accepted to join the judiciary and become one of our younger and exemplary magistrates.

Luckily for all, he did not move completely backstage since he was still at his guitar throughout most of the performance. Apart from joining the band on the night, he has been helping Voices by acting as a choir coach, and undoubtedly offering the inspiration and vision that have led the choir from strength to strength.

He may recollect that immediately after congratulating him on his new public office, I had added the question "What about Voices?" Apart from indicating that he would have to move some steps into a more background role, he had assured me that the dream would live on.

The role of choir director has now been taken over by Martina Caruana. For many years she had already served as assistant director, and on opening night it was clear that she has brought her own enthusiasm and technical precision to the choir's benefit.

Another old guard member of Voices, Joe Cachia, assisted her and led the choir through various scores.

When the evening came to an end, Martina, Joe as well as Tony who joined them, were given a well deserved rousing applause. The gratitude extends to each and every member of the 230-strong choir, to the amazing soloists, to the highly talented musicians - the band members, and to all those who work back stage, be it on sound, lights, camerawork, preparation and projection of video clips, public relations, sales, stage management, forming part of the stage crew, photography, artistic back-up, and all that makes the event come to life in an extraordinary manner. The whole team adds up to around 400 people working together, and if further proof were required that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, this set up offers the best proof possible.

Whether it was Va pensiero from Verdi's opera Nabucco (the opening number) or the Habañera from Bizet's Carmen, whether it was interpreting I'm Every Woman by Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, or entertainingly doing Night Fever by the Bee Gees, whether it was An Englishman in New York by Sting or a touch from Italy by offering us Più bella cosa by Eros Ramazzotti, concluding at the end (apart from encores) with Joyful Joyful from Sister Act II, it was an evening that offered consistently excellent quality that never failed from keeping the audience in an appreciative and happy mood. Josef Bonello, with his quips and wit, provided a reliable anchor as the event's compère.

The repertoire of popular songs chosen for the evening is all new, and is interpreted throughout the evening by the full complement of the 230-strong choir. The concert that has opened last Wednesday carries on daily until today week. Doing 12 consecutive nights at the Mediterranean Conference Centre that hosts our largest theatre is a feat in its own right that cannot be easily matched. It proves that Voices have throughout the years not only stood their original ground but become an icon of good taste that is now shared by thousands of regular and new theatre goers.

What is then particularly extraordinary about Voices is that it is not about keeping the same persons on stage one event after another. While there are some members who have been there from the very beginning and others who have performed with Voices before, by far most of the Voices are actually newcomers.

They are young people who have had the courage to come forward, audition and if chosen perform for the first time ever in their lives. To do that in front of an audience of over a thousand patrons for so many consecutive nights is the kind of leap forward that no other local event can offer to its performers.

It is equivalent to jumping into deep waters from the word 'go' but to have enough confidence to do it and to know that it will be all right on the night and every following night because of the quality of coaching, preparations and rehearsing that go into the build up for the great happening. It must be exhilarating as it is exhausting, rewarding as it might be frightening, and ultimately satisfying to a degree of exuberance.

Society can only be grateful to all those who make it happen. The singers and musicians and the countless others who work alongside them are all volunteers. There formula is not "what's in it for me?" but "what can I make to pass on to those who are in need and deserve my active support?"

As Minister for Tourism and Culture, I could not wish for more. Voices belong to our country's wealth in the field of performing arts, and by regularly attracting many young people and newcomers to the scene, they are rejuvenating and energising that field in an extraordinary manner. Then their social values and commitment enrich us even further and offer added motivation to us all.

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