Young singer's success in Macedonia

On October 10, eight-year-old-singer Martha Galea, a Year 4 pupil at Laura Vicuna Primary School, Ghasri, was chosen to represent Malta at the Asteriks International Children's Singing Contest in Prilep, Macedonia.

Martha was accompanied by her family and her music teacher, Mariella Cassar.

Martha, who competed with 36 other singers from various countries, sang Il-Kanarin, composed by Ms Cassar with lyrics Carmelo P. Cassar. She was awarded the Best Original Performance title.

Martha performed her song to a packed theatre and was accompanied on stage by four young Macedonian dancers. All the songs performed at the festival were recorded on CD, which was then distributed in music shops in Macedonia and other countries.

On the first night of the festival, the young participants were invited to meet the mayor of Prilep. He gave Martha a souvenir and took photos with her. He showed great interest in Malta and our culture and promised Martha he will visit one day!

As part of the festival's programme, all countries had to present some of their traditional cuisine. For this occasion, the Maltese group cooked a bread pudding, an anchovy pie and stuffed tomatoes. People from various countries pronounced them delicious! The next day, Martha and the composer were interviewed by Macedonian radio stations.

During her one-week stay in Macedonia, Martha made lots of friends and visited places of interest.

On her way back to Malta, Martha visited La Scala Theatre in Milan and its museum, where she could admire pictures and statues of great composers.

In Macedonia, Martha was invited by other festival organisers to participate in festivals in Poland, Italy, Albania, and Serbia. The song festival is broadcast on the Macedonian satellite TV channel, A1plus. (For the channel's schedule one can visit www.a1plus.com.mk and www.a1plus.com.mk/programa.aspx