by di-ve.com

Tuesday, 03 August, 2004

It's happening! The larger than life, biennial live performances by the VOICES choir and band will once again hit the big stage, this time over ten nights between Wednesday 6th October to Sunday 10th October and Wednesday 13th October to Sunday 17th October at the Republic Hall of the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

This was announced by the VOICES Committee spokesperson Mr. Adrian Mamo during a media launch at the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort, presided over by the Hon. Dolores Cristina, Minister for the Family and Social Solidarity.

Mr. Mamo said that ever since their first performance in 1991, which took place to raise funds for St Aloysius College, VOICES has grown to what can now be described as an extraordinary, much awaited event, on a scale unsurpassed locally. As always, the scope of the concerts is to raise positive awareness on social issues and to collect funds -- to date, the seven series of concerts performed by VOICES have raised some Lm250,000, donated to various local and international charities including UNICEF, Amnesty International, Red Cross International, UNHCR (Malta), the Hospice Movement, Eden Foundation, Jesuit Refugee Service, Cash for Cancer, YMCA, Fondazzjoni Suret il-Bniedem, Razzett tal-Hbiberija and others.

He added that besides providing an outstanding evening of powerful live performances and raising funds for charity, the VOICES policy has always been to create awareness on a particular theme or social issue. For this purpose, each set of concerts is given a particular title -- VOICES Forever Young, for example, concentrated on the positive values of childhood, bearing in mind that a number of children in our society are not experiencing these values. VOICES Homeless created awareness about the fundamental human right of having a home and the consequent issue of refugees and forced migrants.

"This year the concerts will be called "VOICES Extraordinaire? Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things" emphasising the fact that together we can achieve a lot of things for the benefit of the society we live in. This has always been the spirit behind VOICES and the aim is to create awareness about all those who -- through teamwork -- provide support to members of our society."

Choir Director Martina Caruana said that auditions have already been held and over 250 people have been chosen, thus making it the largest choir to date. "Rehearsals have been going on for the past 8 weeks and all the choir members and musicians are working hard to produce the best musical product possible? as for the repertoire, there will surely be something for everyone!"

Minister Cristina admitted that she has been a VOICES fan over the years, and gladly accepted to attend the launch. She said that VOICES is yet another great example of what Maltese solidarity is all about. Minister Cristina said she is convinced that voluntary work is a pillar of our society, and with initiatives such as VOICES, we show that we care.

She urged the general public to attend the concerts, as not only the ticket money will all go to the beneficiaries, but also because it is great fun. She concluded by thanking all those involved for making VOICES a reality, and urged more sponsors to becoming part of the VOICES family.