Composers

Carmelo Galea

Carmelo Galea

Carmelo Galea was born in Malta in 1949 and started studying music at age 12 under the guidance of his father Emanuel (a professional army band musician), who taught him the Clarinet.  When Carmelo started playing the Clarinet in 1962, he also started studying Theory of Music, also in Malta, at De La Salle College (where he attended from 1956 to 1965), Mro Prof. Charles Zammit, and then Mro Carmelo Pace, achieving his 2nd diploma, L.Mus.L.C.M., in 1977.

He started to have a go at composition in 1965, his first composition (a festive march) being performed in public in 1966 by the village band he was involved in, ‘Banda San Pietru fil-Ktajjen 1957’ (St Peter in Chains Band 1957) at Birżebbuġa, Malta.  He was Bandmaster of the same Band from 1971 to 1981.  In 1972 he was appointed Bandmaster of the National Youth Band of Malta but had to resign owing to other pressing duties.  He served in the King’s Own Malta Regiment Band, playing the Clarinet, from 1967 to 1970.

He migrated to Australia with his young family in 1981 – by this time, he had composed several festive marches and two orchestral pieces, all performed publicly; the orchestral pieces performed by the then Manoel Theatre Orchestra (now Malta Philharmonic Orchestra) conducted by Mro Joseph Sammut.  In Victoria, Australia, he was Bandmaster of two Maltese bands, and taught music part-time, including a 12-year period from 1992 to 2004, teaching Theory of Music – he was a Fully Accredited Member of the Victorian Music Teachers’ Association.  In Victoria he also played the Clarinet with several community bands around the western suburbs.

Composition had stopped for Carmelo in 1979, when still in Malta, and he composed nothing till 2009 – 30 years later!  It was only when he joined Hobsons Bay City Band [Victoria, Australia] in late 2008, as a Clarinet player, that he got the desire to restart composing again.  He did so in 2009, when he composed ‘Roman March’ for Concert Band, which he revised in 2011.  His Concert Band and Orchestral compositions started to be published in 2013, by Wirripang Pty Ltd., and several of his compositions have since been performed in Australia and Malta.

Carmelo is a member of APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association).  He can be contacted via his Facebook page, or by email -  c.e.galea@bigpond.com.

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