In the early months of 2002, Kevin Bradley of the National Library, Canberra paid me a visit to discuss the possible entry of a Maltese Folklore group at the 36th annual National Folk Festival. He was referred to me by Manuel Casha an accomplished student of Maltese Ghana and Prejjem.

On the day of the visit, we played Prejjem and I was amazed that someone of a completely non-Maltese background was able to accompany me and speak the jargon associated with Ghana. The challenge that Kevin and Manuel faced, in organising a group to represent Maltese folklore for the first time at the festival, was gaining full commitment from the various entertainers. The Maltese being a laid back and relaxed people were replying with comments such as " if nothing happens, I will be there" or, " call me a few days before". Unfortunately this was placing strain on the organising of the Maltese group since the festival is a highly structured and planned event and requires commitment months in advance.

(Tony Camilleri) I was in the very fortunate position of having very close and trusting relationships, with the two very best accompanists there are today, Franc and Tony Camilleri "ta' Sponos". I am also close friends with Joe Galea, a very famous and competent Maltese singer.
On the Day of Kevin's visit, I was able to tie up a group for him on the very same day. We had Franc, Tony, myself and Joe. Kevin was delighted for he was to finally show, to the greater Australian community, Maltese Ghana & Prejjem music.

(France Camilleri)

(Joe Galea) Joe Galea is not amidst the ghana scene that often. He is however the best there is for this type of event for he would have to be the only Maltese singer who is able to communicate in English and Maltese to all audiences. He is as far as I am aware, the only person to have sung ghana in English. So picking Joe was the best thing for our purpose, to introduce Maltese Folklore (Ghana) to the greater Australian community. He is the only person with the unique gift of musical talent coupled with communication ability in the ghana scene.

Franc and Tony travelled by bus from Melbourne to Canberra, a trip that took 8 hours. Joe and I drove to Canberra from Sydney. We met on Friday 29th March, unpacked, and headed off to Exhibition Park, where the festival was to take place.

(Kevin Bradley)

At 11:30am, we performed at the Trocadero with 3 other guitarists. The session was called Guitar Round Table and the room contained around 300 people. Kevin Bradley commenced proceedings by playing a short Irish guitar instrumental on a tiny guitar that he named "modesty" built by Gerard Gilet. He then turned to the first solo guitarist from California and asked him to explain his style and to play a small piece for the crowd. He then asked us the guitar team.
In all, there were 3 questions followed by 3 pieces of guitar music. Our group played Prejjem on Sol Magori (G Major), Re Minori (D Minor) and Nofs Ton Tal Fa (F with a half tone)
The crowd applauded at each piece and were happy to hear the melodies of Maltese Prejjem Melodies they had never heard before. They expressed interest in the guitars, especially the harp guitar "ta' l-ghana" (tah larnah). The audience were satisfied however they had not heard Joe Galea sing yet. They were in for a treat in the following 3 days when Joe was to be added to the fray.

We were also amazed by the skill and quality of the other guitarists in whose presence, I felt modest.

The following day, we performed in a large covered outdoor tent called the Merry Muse. Joe Galea began by explaining ghana and how it works. In this session, we performed 2 song stories "fatti" in the key of Fa Magori and Re Minori. We also played two prejjem instumentals on Sol Magori and Sol Minori. This was a different crowd and they loved what they heard. The tent filled up very quickly to full capacity and at the commencement, their were shouts of "more more more". This pleased us to no end that we were able to please so many people in such a short time.

On the Sunday, we performed in a very large marquee that seated around 500 people. Again, the seats filled up very quickly and we performed for half an hour. By this time, we began noticing familiar faces of those people who were following our schedule. This session consisted of 3 fatti and 2 prejjem sessions. Joe sang in Maltese and English in various keys. The instumentals were played in Sol Magori and Re Minori.

The end was approaching and we performed for 90 minutes in a session dedicated for Maltese Ghana and Prejjem. This was a workshop that consisted of Ghana Fatti, Prejjem, explanations and Questions and Answers. Their were anything between 20 - 50 people in the room at any one time as people walked in and out.

In all, the boys and I enjoyed the experience of performing for the very first time at the National Folk Festival, a festival running for 36 years. We enjoyed the people and their overall response to our performances and we only hope that we made proud our Maltese heritage to the greater Australian Community. We also thank Kevin Bradley for organising this for us and for guiding us at each event.

We look forward to next years festival, which if selected, will consist of different guitarists from this year and possibly singers as well.

Raymond Attard

2 April 2002