Din l-Art Ħelwa presented a concert at the Auberge de Castille which marked the inauguration of the restoration project of the church of Our Lady of Victory.

Choral pieces were sung by Enkor Choir and solos by the four-strong instrumental ensemble under the direction of Johanna van Lent-Singels.

The choral works were in different styles and revealed admirable versatility on the choir’s part.

However, amplification did slightly spoil the only unaccompanied work, Ingegneri’s O Bone Jesu.

Lindsey Galea’s pleasant voice enhanced Tore Aas’s Your Love while the choir gave a beautiful interpretation of Rutter’s A Clare Benediction.

Equally uplifting was The Prayer, in an arrangement by Teena Chinn of the well-known piece composed and written by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster with the Italian part written by Tony Renis. The soloists, Anneliese Sammut and Alfred Cauchi, sang with great heart. The choir then switched easily to truly swinging gospel mode in a Bill Withers arrangement of Lean on Me.

Soloists here were Anneliese Sammut, Ana-Maria Grima and Brian Dimech with a solo vocal group consisting of Natassja Saliba, Naomi Somers and Michela Dalli.

Concluding the musical part, soprano Gillian Zammit delighted those present with a very fine Pie Jesu from Lloyd Webber’s Requiem and Schubert’s ethereal Ave Maria.