Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja today treated the elderly at St Vincent de Paul to a private recital.

The recital precedes Calleja’s annual summer concert in Malta on Saturday, when he will welcome Italian pop star Riccardo Cocciante, the legendary Dionne Warwick, Maltese soprano Maria Abela and singer Raquela.

Today’s recital was made possible through Calleja’s personal initiative. He always made it a priority to make classical music more accessible to all the Maltese and last year he presented complimentary tickets to a number of children’s homes.

The initiative proved to be a highly successful, with some 300 children attending the concert.

This year he wanted to include elderly people who could not join him during Saturday’s concert.

“It is both a dream and a priority of mine to make this beautiful music accessible to everyone, to people of all ages and all backgrounds. This is my way of giving something back to my fellow Maltese, by taking the music to those for whom, for a variety of reasons, it is not possible to attend the concert on Saturday. One of the greatest pleasures is making it possible for these people to enjoy the music,” said Calleja.

Calleja has gained immense respect not only for his natural ability as a tenor but also for his continued efforts to widen the appeal of his Malta concerts to include audiences who would normally miss classical music events.

Other initiatives include the setting up of the Joseph Calleja HSBC Children’s Choir and establishing low entry-level prices for the concerts he gives in Malta.

In the meantime, preparations at The Granaries in Floriana are in full swing for Saturday’s concert.

NnG Promotions, who are organising the concert, said that tickets in most seated areas were sold out and that only a small number of general standing tickets and seated tickets remained available.

This year’s concert will fuse elements of pop and classical. This experiment was carried out with great success for the first time last year when Calleja was joined on stage by singer Michael Bolton to the delight of thousands of Maltese fans.

On Saturday, hte Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Paul Bateman, will also take part in the concert.

Equally comfortable with both classical and lighter pop music, Bateman was a hit with the Maltese crowd when he first appeared on stage with Calleja and Bolton last year.

A 500-strong children’s choir will also be taking part. An intensive rehearsal schedule for the choir is currently underway under the guidance of Soprano Gillian Zammit.

The remaining tickets are available from Agenda, Vodafone and Exotique outlets and from www.nngpromotions.com .