Difference between revisions of "Soċjetà Santa Marija u Banda Re Ġorġ V, Mqabba"
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== History == | == History == | ||
L-Istorja | L-Istorja tas-Soċjetà Santa Marija u Banda Re Ġorġ V, Mqabba (Taghrif meħud mill-website tas-soċjeta) [1] | ||
[[File:soċjetàsantamarijabandareġorġV.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Soċjeta Santa Marija, Banda Re Ġorġ V. A.D. 1910]] | |||
Ever since its establishment, the main aim of the '''Soċjeta Santa Marija u Banda Re Ġorġ V''' (St Mary Society & King George V Band) is to organise the feast of Santa Marija (Assumption of Mary) in [[Mqabba]], [[Malta]], which is celebrated annually on the 15th August. | Ever since its establishment, the main aim of the '''Soċjeta Santa Marija u Banda Re Ġorġ V''' (St Mary Society & King George V Band) is to organise the feast of Santa Marija (Assumption of Mary) in [[Mqabba]], [[Malta]], which is celebrated annually on the 15th August. | ||
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History
L-Istorja tas-Soċjetà Santa Marija u Banda Re Ġorġ V, Mqabba (Taghrif meħud mill-website tas-soċjeta) [1]
Ever since its establishment, the main aim of the Soċjeta Santa Marija u Banda Re Ġorġ V (St Mary Society & King George V Band) is to organise the feast of Santa Marija (Assumption of Mary) in Mqabba, Malta, which is celebrated annually on the 15th August.
During a general meeting in 1910, it was decided that to mark the beginning of the reign of King George V, the name of the society had to be changed from Santa Marija Social Club established in 1905 to Giorgio V. The 2nd decade of the 20th Century was a difficult period for the club due to hardship and poverty in Malta. With hard work and determination the Society started to grow in all aspects and the feast started to be celebrated on a larger scale as the economic situation in the country started to improve.
On the 22nd January 1934 the club Giorgio V bought the site which it still occupies today, as prior to this purchase of property the society occupied different sites throughout the years. In 1939, music started to be teached in an organised way but this activity had to stop as WWII commenced. From 1939 to 1945 during WWII, the club served as a government office. With greater determination, music instruction restarted in 1944 with the aim of forming an orchestra. On 12th April 1945 the Orchestra Santa Marija made its official debut during the feast of Santa Marija. This orchestra was a first in Mqabba. During the post war years, Malta saw many bands being established around the villages. Mqabba wasn’t an exception; influenced by a strong concentr-ation of British military bands, in 1947 the Santa Marija Orchestra was tran-sformed into the King George V Band. The band made its official debut on 14th August 1945 on the eve of the Santa Marija feast.
After the difficult years of WWII a decision was taken to renovate the building, where another storey was built and renovations needed to be made to the facade. The club was inaugurated on 13th May 1951 for the great celebrations that took place that same year.
The year 1953 saw the establishment of a theatrical company called Aurora Dramatic Company.
1960 was year when the so called Universal Joint was introduced in Ground Fireworks (Irdieden), which brought a nationwide revolution in this sector. In 1961, construction started on a new firework factory, which was completed by 1963.
In 1992, special celebrations took place to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Santa Marija Convoy. For this occasion the club had a visit from the Red Arrows (the Royal Air Force Aerobatic team) pilots and club delegates had a reception with HRH Queen Elisabeth II.
In 1993 this Society saw the establishment of the Youth Section. In 1996 the society was involved in a historic twinning which took place between the King George V Band and the Italian band Corpo Bandistico di Santa Vittoria in Mantenano. The next year saw the second part of the twinning as this time the Italian band participated in our feast. St. Mary Fireworks Factory was the first in Malta to introduce fireworks displays synchronised to music in 1997.
1998 was another historic year when this society had been awarded the prestigious honor of the ‘Les Etoiles d’Or du Jemellage’ by the European Union for the twining with the Santa Vittora in Mantenano Band . This twinning was ranked in 4th place from amongst 2,500 twinnings from all over Europe. In 2005 the Santa Marija Youth Section, together with ACLI Youths from Ciro` (Italy), was the first organisation in Mqabba to set up a cultural twinning.
During the same year, the St. Mary Fireworks Factory was commissioned to create a fireworks display to be set off during a banquet given by HRH Queen Elizabeth II for 52 heads of state during the CHOGM 2005 meeting in Golden Bay. Another achievement came in 2006 when the St. Mary Fireworks Factory won the 1st Malta International Fireworks Festival. Winning the categories for Best Originality, Best Synchronisation, Best Choreography, Overal Winners of the Festival and Best Show as voted by Public Opinion.
The following year (2007), the St. Mary Fireworks Factory deservedly won another honour when it came first in the Fireworks International Championship, Caput Lucis (Rome). In 2007, the King George V Band participated in the Festa del Socio, a feast celebrated in Cave, - Rome (Italy). This was its second international venture.
2010 was the year when the St. Mary Fireworks Factory won another prestigious competition, this time the IV Malta Ground Fireworks Festival (Malta), winning the categories for Best Mechanisim, Best Products, Originality and the Overall Prize.In 2010, the Society celebrated its centinery year since its foundation., Special celebrations were held throughout the year to mark this anniversary. On 26th December of the same year the extension of the Band Club was inaugurated. Yet another important event was celebrated in 2011, the 175th anniversary since the carving of the Statue of Our Lady of Assumption, patron Saint of Mqabba. The statue carved in wood by Alessandro Farrugia arrived in Mqabba on the14th August 1836, the eve of the Assumption, among great joy and celebration from the locals.
In 2012 the Youth Section classified in 1st place in the National Crib Competition organised by the Malta Council for Culture & the Arts for the Live Crib organised in the same year, making it one of the main Christmas attractions in Malta. This was the 2nd time after winning the same competition back in 2006.
In 2013, the St. Mary Ground Fireworks Group set another milestone for winning the Premju Ġieħ l-Artiġjanat Malti 2013 in the Most Innovative Product by group of Artisians Section. This for a 3 Dimensional Catherine Wheel (Raddiena) produced for the Feast of Santa Marija.
Between 2014-2015 group of Youths within the Society organised Qalb Żgħażugħa, Festi Inklussivi a Nation-wide research project on the involvement of youths in the Festa Celebrations, leading to the Young people and the Festa in Malta pubblicaton. A project part financed by the EU. In 2015, during a statal visit of HRH Queen Elizabeth for CHOGM Summit Malta, our society's officials were invited for a statal reception given by Her Excellency the President of Malta, in honour of her Majesty. This society had always been innovative through the years with events all year long for all; from Kids to the Elderly, youths and teenagers with philantropic, cultural, religious and sports events. Amongst all these events, the Feast of Santa Marija, patron saint of Mqabba will always remain the main aim of the club.
Organisation
Band Masters
| No | Band Masters | From | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Giuseppe Maria Barbara | 1947 | 1953 |
| 02 | Leonard Spiteri | 1953 | 1956 |
| 03 | George Martin | 1956 | 1991 |
| 04 | Anthony Camilleri | 1991 | 1997 |
| 05 | David Agius | 1997 |
Presidents
| No | Presidents | From | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Paolo Caruana | 1905 | 1910 |
| 02 | Feliċ Zammit | 1910 | 1920 |
| 03 | Angelo Ghigo | 1920 | 1925 |
| 04 | Giuseppe Bugeja | 1925 | 1946 |
| 05 | Giovanni Ghigo | 1946 | 1947 |
| 06 | Giuseppe Bugeja | 1947 | 1949 |
| 07 | Giovanni Ghigo | 1949 | 1955 |
| 08 | Mro. Leonard Spiteri | 1955 | 1956 |
| 09 | Charles Sciberras | 1956 | 1962 |
| 10 | George Busuttil | 1962 | 1966 |
| 11 | Joseph Farrugia | 1966 | 1969 |
| 12 | Dr. Louis Galea LL.D. | 1969 | 1973 |
| 13 | Dr. Charles Sciberras M.D. | 1973 | 1975 |
| 14 | Joseph Ghigo | 1975 | 1977 |
| 15 | George Busuttil | 1977 | 1983 |
| 16 | Leonard Farrugia | 1983 | 1984 |
| 17 | Joseph Sciberras | 1984 | 1985 |
| 18 | Joseph Farrugia | 1985 | 1990 |
| 19 | Carmel Zahra | 1990 | 2017 |
| 20 | Carlo Sciberras | 2017 |
Secretaries
| No | Secretaries | From | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Reno Sciberras | 1983 | 1989 |
| 02 | Carmel Zahra | 1989 | 1990 |
| 03 | Francis Vella | 1990 | 1991 |
| 04 | Peter Psaila | 1991 | 1996 |
| 05 | Carmel Ellul | 1996 | 2013 |
| 06 | Carlo Sciberras | 2013 | 2017 |
| 07 | Antoine Farrugia | 2017 |
Treasurers
| No | Treasurers | From | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Carmel Briffa | 1984 |
Band Commissions
Band Activities Overseas
Historical Events in which the Band participated
Song Festivals, Events or Drama Activies
Annual Concerts
Annual Musical Activities
Recorded releases (LPs, Cassettes and CDs)
Cassettes
Cd's
| No | Name of Cd's | Year | Festive Marches | Funeral Marches | Waltzes | Others |
| 01 | Festive Marches - Marċi Brijużi - Soċjeta Santa Marija, Banda Re Ġorġ V (2002) | 2002 | * | |||
| 02 | Festive Marches - Marċi Brijużi - Soċjeta Santa Marija, Banda Re Ġorġ V (2004) | 2004 | * | |||
| 03 | Festive Marches - Marċi Brijużi - Soċjeta Santa Marija, Banda Re Ġorġ V (2008) | 2008 | * |