Vittoriosa promoting Bethlehem concert

The Vittoriosa local council has been accepted as one of the international promoters of this year's Bethlehem Christmas Concert.

This includes two concerts, one at St Catherine Church, near the Nativity Sanctuary at Bethlehem, and another in the Music Auditorium of Jerusalem, in the Jewish sector of the Holy City.

This concert will be transmitted on television through the Eurovision services and transmitted by Rai on December 25.

They were organised for the first time in 2001 by the Conference Permanente des Villes Historiques de la Mediterranée. This year's theme is Concert Pour La Vie Et Pour La Paix or A Concert For Life And Peace.

The mayor of Vittoriosa, John Boxall, will be flying to Tel Aviv to officially represent the local council at this event.

Vittoriosa's participation was made possible through the initiative of Simon Mercieca, the director of the Mediterranean Institute at the University of Malta who put forward its candidature as a permanent member of the Mediterranean Association of Historic Cities. This association seeks to promote peace in the Mediterranean through cultural initiatives and international conferences. The violinist Shlomo Mintz, a musician of world renown, will be conducting the concerts, leading the choir and orchestra of the Communal Theatre of Bologna.

The programme will focus on music by Mozart, in anticipation of next year's celebrations of the third centenary of his birth.