The Gaulitana festival continues today with two events. The first is Lenten Chants by the Riga Orthodox Chamber Choir Blagovest at Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary, Għarb, at 7.30pm. Gaulitana visits this Marian shrine to mark the titular painting’s 400th anniversary celebrations. The group from Latvia, a country defined as the ‘choral superpower’, will present a programme of Lenten chants. The Gaulitanus Choir will also join in for the final two numbers.

At 9.30pm, the festival presents Lounge Night by the Strada Stretta String Quartet at Żeppi’s Pub in Qala. 

There are also two event tomorrow. The first is a Miriam Gauci master concert featuring Lisa Newill-Smith, Laura Petit and Michaela Young, accompanied by Julia Miller at the Gozo Ministry, Victoria, at 11.30am.

The second event is Sacred Meets Secular with the Riga Orthodox Chamber Choir Blagovest at St Augustine Church, Victoria, at 7.30pm. The Latvian ensemble’s second programme offers a more diverse repertoire, including Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus, movements from Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vespers and Latvian folk songs.

Tomorrow there will be a focus on Puccini: The Artist and the Man, with a concert and exhibition at the Gozo Ministry in Victoria at 7.30pm. The Fondazione Giacomo Puccini Lucca, which runs the Puccini Museum Casa Natale in Lucca, will present an exhibition of artefacts, documents and audio-visual material allowing an insight into the professional and personal life of the composer.

The event will open with a vocal concert presenting arias and musical interludes by the Italian master, featuring soprano Go Eun Lee and pianist Massimo Morelli. The exhibition will remain open until April 7.

For further information about the festival, call 7703 8971, e-mail gaulitanafestival@gmail.com or visit www.gaulitanus.com.