The Maltese embassy in Washington celebrated the 50th anniversary of Malta’s independence with a cultural event aimed to promote Mro Joseph Vella’s The Hyland Mass.

The event was held at the EU delegation’s headquarters and Christopher Hyland commissioned the Mass.

During the events, New York Choral Society director David Hayes announced that his society had decided to perform Mro Vella’s Mass in 2015 in New York.

The event was well attended by EU and other ambassadors, a number of US administration officials, and members of the Maltese community and of the diplomatic community in Washington, including the Apostolic Nuncio to the US.

Maltese ambassador to the US Marisa Micallef said that when she first heard the Mass, she knew it would be her responsibility to ensure it would be performed in the US, and the Maltese embassy put together this special event with that in mind.

The ambassador said Malta’s economy had stayed on an even keel throughout the economic difficulties which had struck the EU and the world. She described how the Maltese economy had gone from strength to strength through a steady process of diversification.

Micallef also paid tribute to the progress registered in Malta-US relations over the past few years and looked forward to broadening and deepening this relationship across a range of sectors.

The cultural programme included excerpts from The Hyland Mass and the Sistine Chapel Choir’s Mro Massimo Palombella’s Hymn to St Francis.