A group of young Ħamrun students are on tenterhooks awaiting the results of Schoolovision 2022, an online European song contest for schools inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest. The e-twinning project sees schools from different European countries writing songs and creating videos, then voting for each other’s work during a live video conference, which is held annually one day before the final of the popular song festival.
The Dun Ġorġ Preca Primary School of Ħamrun (GP) has done very well in past editions of the contest. It placed second twice, in 2017 and 2018, and ranked third last year.
"The refrain of Music Never Dies is in Maltese and is inspired by the musical The Sound of Music"
This year, the students came up with an idea for a song on the power of music and are presenting a new version of the song Sinfonija Ħiemda, which was performed by Miguel Bonello in the first edition of the music festival Mużika Mużika, last year. Composed by Aldo and Bradley Spiteri, with musical arrangement by Norbert Camilleri, the song had won the first prize in musical arrangement and interpretation at the festival.
“With the consent of the composers, we have come up with the version we are presenting for Schoolovision, Music Never Dies (Mużika, Mużika, int qatt ma tmut),” Maria Antoinette Magro, who coordinates the students and oversees the song’s production, says. Magro notes that many of the choristers have learning difficulties and are assisted by a learning support educator (LSE) in class.
“This did not hinder us and we did our best to help them reach their full potential. Music plays an important role here because it helps children find their inner self,” she remarks. “Our school always supports children with learning difficulties. It gives them opportunities to excel and motivates them to grow up into independent and fully educated citizens of tomorrow. Just as Ignacio Estrada once said, ‘if a child cannot learn the way we teach, we teach the way he learns’.”
The refrain of Music Never Dies is in Maltese and is inspired by the musical The Sound of Music.
Magro adds that even though most of the Schoolovision songs are performed in the native tongue, and many of the participants do not understand each other’s songs, the music acts as a bridge between countries.
“Music is truly a language everyone knows and it has no borders. Music connects people,” Magro concludes, while urging children to take up a music instrument or perhaps sing in a choir.
One may watch the video of Music Never Dies on https://schoolovision2022.blogspot.com/search/label/Malta.
