A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CLUB

The Club's origin can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth Century.  In 1862, Odilone Caruana, a well-known Zabbar personality residing in Tarxien, (born, 26 – 09 – 1839 in Zabbar, died, 07 – 11 – 1899 in Tarxien), set up a band club in Tarxien.

The band that was set-up, was originally known as the "Banda Tarxien" (Tarxien Band).  Later on, the band had its name changed to "Banda San Gwann" (St. John's Band), and in 1885, it became known as "Banda San Giuseppe" (St. Joseph Band).  In 1904, the Club became known as "Circolo Filarmonica Annunzjata".  Since 1986, the official name of the Club is  “Ghaqda Muzikali Marija Annunzjata”. 

On the 8th September 1912, the Club's offical flag was hoisted for the first time (on the club's building which is situated at 10/11, Paola Road , Tarxien).

THE CLUB'S LOGO

 The club's Logo, designed by the late Chevalier Rafel Bonnici Cali', is very similar to the village's coat of arms, which is made up of two main parts.  The upper part features the letter “M” which stands for Marija (Our Lady), whilst the lower part features two upright blue stripes, against a white background.

In addition to this, the club's logo features the lyra (harp).  This musical instrument is imposed on the white and blue stripes in the lower part.

BAND DIRECTORS

In almost a century and a half, the club had 15 bandmasters / directors, with Mro. Giuseppe Portelli being the first bandmaster / director to hold such a position (1870 - 1890) and Mro. Victor Vella being the present bandmaster / director (1997 to date).  Following is a list of the club’s bandmasters in chronological order:

Mro. Giuseppe Portelli (1870 - 1890)

Mro. Napuljun Caruana Dingli (1890 - 1905)

Mro. Salvatore Galea Abela (1905 - 1906)

Mro. Ignatio Catania (1906 - 1908)

Mro. Giuseppe Carmenzuli (1908 - 1909)

Mro. Lorenzo Gonzi (1909 - 1924)

Mro. Vincenzo Ciappara (1924 - 1931)

Mro. Lorenzo Gonzi (1931 - 1934)

Mro. Antonio Zammit (1934 - 1938)

Mro. Giuseppe Buttigieg (1938 – 1944)

Mro. Giuseppe Magri (1944 - 1945)

Mro. Giuseppe Buttigieg (1945 - 1972)

Mro. Salvino Fabri (1972 - 1974)

Mro. Paolo Buttigieg (1974 - 1978)

Mro. John Pace (1978 - 1983)

Mro. Giuseppe Buttigieg (1983 - 1984)

Mro. Paolo Buttigieg (1984 - 1991)

Mro. Saviour Portelli (1991 - 1993)

Mro. Dominic Darmanin (1993 - 1997)

Mro. Victor Vella (1997 -             )

 

THE CLUBS'S PRESIDENTS

Since its setup, the club had 33 Presidents who, together with the club members and band players (bandisti), strived hard to promote the music culture amongst the locals of Tarxien.  The club always had a substantial number of student band players who later on became members of the club's band.

The first President of the Club was Odilone Caruana who served as President of the Club between 1862 and 1890.  The current president is Mr. Victor Seguna and has been in office since 2007.   Following is a list of all the club’s presidents in chronological order:

Caruana Odilone (1862 - 1890)

Spiteri Giuseppe (1890 - 1894)

Crispo-Barbaro George (1894 - 1896)

Savona Sigismondo (1896 - 1906)

Lanzon Gaetano (1906 - 1909)

Faure' Giovanni (Prov.) 1909

Mamo Carmelo (1909 - 1924)

Sant Carmelo (Prov.) 1924

Farrugia Carmelo (1924 - 1926)

Micallef Goggi Giovanni 1926

Schembri Pawlu (1926 - 1927)

Ebejer Lorenzo (1927 - 1929)

Berry Thomas (Prov.) (1929 - 1930)

Crispo-Barbaro Enrico George (1930 - 1934)

Bonavia Lucrezio (Prov.) 1934

Ruggier Giuseppe Adolfo (1934 - 1936)

Ruggier Giuseppe Marija (1936 - 1937)

Bonnici Cali' Raffaele (1937 - 1946)

Tagliaferro William (1946 - 1950)

Zammit Annunziato (Prov.) (1950 - 1952)

Zammit Annunzjato (1952 - 1959)

Camilleri Salvatore (1959 - 1967)

Cassar John (1967 - 1968)

Camilleri Salvatore (1968 - 1969)

Cassar Vassallo Joseph (1969 - 1970)

Cachia Joseph M. (1970 - 1987)

Farrugia Salvatore (1987 - 1991)

Vella Joseph L. (1991 - 1992)

Battistino Vincent (1992 - 1996)

Gauci Felix (1996 - 1998)

Mercieca Carmelo (1998 - 2000)

Piscopo Anthony (2000 - 2007)

Victor Seguna   (2007 –             )

THE CLUB's HONORARY PRESIDENTS

Mr. Salvatore Mizzi (1896)

Dr. Giacomo Carmelo Baldacchino M.D. (1906)

Dr. Daniel Cecy M.D. (1909)

Dr. James Farrugia M.D. (1974)

Mr. Anthony Cassar (1998)

Magestrate Dr. Joe Cassar LL.D.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS

Rev. Michael Vella (1935 - 1948)

Rev. Anton Zammit (1948 - 2010)

THE BAND

The club's band is made up of 70 band persons, with a good number of them being locals.  This group of people is trained by the bandmaster/director himself.  During the year, the band participates in various activities, on a local and national level.

THE CLUB's ADMINISTRATION

The club is run by an executive committee made up of 13 members and led by the committee's President.  All Officials serving in this committee are elected biannually during the Club's Annual General Meeting.

The executive committee is supported by the club's youths section (Sezzjoni Zghazagh) and ladies' section (Sezzjoni Nisa) in the running of the club and the organization of the various activities held by the club during the year.