Sliema bandsman of the year honoured
Sliema Philharmonic Society band member of the year also announced
Last May, the Sliema Philharmonic Society celebrated its Foundation Day, marking its 102nd anniversary this year.
On this occasion, the Sliema Band, conducted by Lesley Tabone, together with the children’s choir ‘Fathers’ Angels’, led by Fr Joe Caruana, OFM, animated a mass held at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Sliema. The mass was celebrated by parish priest Fr Martin Coleiro.
After the mass, the celebration continued in the society’s Culture Hall, where certificates were presented to musicians of the Sliema Band and to students learning both practice and theory at the society’s school of music.
During these presentations, the ‘Sliema Philharmonic Society Band Member of the Year’ was also announced. This year, the award went to Andy Borg, who plays the side drums and is also learning the trombone.
Borg was awarded the Mro Cardenio Botti Trophy, sculpted in marble by the late Ronald Pisani. It was presented by the society’s vice president and director of the school of music, Joseph Muscat, in the presence of society president Jesmond Vella and Mro Lesley Tabone, who teaches Borg.
The society encourages parents to send their children to learn a musical instrument at the society and to follow in Borg’s footsteps.