Doreen Galea
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Doreen Galea (born 19 February 1947) is a Maltese singer from Valletta.
Doreen Galea maiden Zammit comes from a family with music background, her Grandfather was playing the madolina, Her uncle Paul Grech, is a composer, as well as a painter. Her Grandmother were a folkor singer and her mother cousin is the famous, the Clarinettist known Freddie Mizzi.
She come from a family of twenty kids, with eight of them where girls, and Doreen was the first girl in the family. For some time they lived in l-Blata l-Bajda , and Doreen was attending school Ħamrun Maria Assunta. But five years after its move back again to the City, in the part of St. Dominic.
The eldest of eight siblings, she started her singing career at the age of twelve with the band of Prof. Ghirlando Valente.
Although she is originally from Valletta, she has lived in Floriana most of her adult life, after marrying pianist/composer Sammy Galea.
Over a period of four decades she established herself in the Maltese music scene across various genres, with her deep, expressive voice that is known to soar up to a higher register when the song calls for it.
Her three sons Dominic Galea, Benedict Galea, and Manolito Galea have all taken up careers in music as pianist/composer, percussionist, and sound engineer respectively.
Galea is also a noted song writer, having written the lyrics for Joe Cutajar, including Ftakar and Kantaw Magħna, amongst others. At the tender age of seventeen she wrote the lyrics, while Sammy composer the music, this was the first song they wrote together, the famous song MALTA that was chossing to take part in the final of Malta Song Contest, (1967) and the first singer that it had participated in this Festival was Ċensina Zammit sister Doreen who incidentally is the grandmother of two renowned youngsters singers Thea Saliba and Daniel Testa, who knows how many other singers interpetred over the years, such as Mary Spiteri and Ġeorġina Abela among others.
In 2009, she released a CD album called Ommi on Heritage Records featuring a set of songs written by Dominic Galea to some of the most well know Maltese-language romantic poetry of all time. The album was recorded at Lito's Place with Steve Borg as executive producer. A set of fifteen song including the oldest Maltese song ever written Xidew the Qada (The Kantilena) of Pietru Caxaru.
Her rendition of the works of Malta's noted poets continued with her contribution in the album Għanja, celebrating Dun Karm Psaila's anniversary in 2011 and in Nirien, released in April 2012 on the 25th anniversary of Karmenu Vassallo's demise.
Doreen has performed in a large number of musicals both in Maltese (Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerika, Manwel, Manwel, It-Tfajla tal-Palazz, L-Għarusa tal-Mosta, Rita ta' Cassia and Jien Ġużeppi) and English (The Sound of Music, Les Miserables in Concert, Evita and Sister Act).
She has won several awards in song contests and performed at various International Festivals in Malta, Ireland, U.K., Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Australia and Algeria. Some of the most outstanding awards in her career as singer and songwriter include:
1st at the 1970 Italo/Maltese Festival with “Dimmi Che Mi Vuoi Bene”
1st at the 1982 International Festival of Maltese Song – “Jekk Trid”
1st at the 1983 International Festival of Maltese Song – “Ħabib Tinsiex”
1st at 1985 International Festival of Maltese Song – “Leħen fis-Skiet”
1st at Malta Song Festival 1994 with song “Forsi” – duet with son Manolito
2nd at Australian Open 1988 with “Seventh Heaven”
3rd at 1983 Bratislava International Song Festival with “Sa Kemm”
Doreen has coached and assisted many established singers, and organized also a Choir, know as Kor.Doreen Galea and with patience, many children were grown up now, and also one could named Priscilla Psaila, Corinne Caruana, Colette Grima,Leontine Camilleri, Alision Ellul, Annalise Ellul among others. including participants in L-Isfida.