Today,
the feast activities were dedicated to our emigrants who
are currently among us. The St. Stythians Band
(Cornwall, UK) played a musical brass concert in the
main square. The event was organized by a joint
collaboration between the Ghajnsielem Local Council,
Ghajnsielem Parish and the St Joseph Band Club.
The band,
directed by Derek Johnston, performed a number of modern
music pieces including Cornet Rock by Philip Sparke, Hey
Baby by B. Channel and Margaret Cobb, Hard Rock
Hallelujah by Lordi, Post Horn Galop by Denis Floyd, Ein
Schnaps, a cornet duet performed by Lester Scott and
Denis Floyd, and the traditional Schneewaker and Proper
Job.
The concert ended with an exchange of gifts between Mr
Johnston, on behalf of the St Stythians Band, and
Ghajnsielem mayor Frans Cauchi, archpriest Fr Frankie
Bajada, and St Joseph Band Club president Gino Cauchi.
St Stythians
isn't actually a village, but a traditional Cornish
collective of hamlets and villages. The main village in
the area covered by St Stythians is Stithians, where the
band is based. As well as performing around 40 concerts
a year, the band enters around 4 contests per annum.