The King's Own Band, founded in 1874 as La Stella, was a Maltese philharmonic band based in the country's capital, Valletta. The Band was renamed to La Nazionale, La Nazionale Vincitrice and later to The Prince of Wales Band in 1885.

Early history

The first Band Club, or philharmonic society as they were known, to be set up in Valletta, was known as La Nazionale due to their location in the capital city of Malta. Colloquially this band was and still is referred to as Ta' l-Istilla. The reason is that the promoters of this society had in mind their participation during the feast day of Saint Dominic in 1874, one of the patron saints who has his feast celebrated in Valletta, and the symbol of the saint is a star, Stilla in Maltese.

The King's Own Band Club served as an important social, political and musical club for many people. Being also situated in Valletta, it has always attracted particular attention from foreign visitors to the islands. Thus, when His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the club's premises on 28 November 1952, he stated :"I hope that this my visit to the King’s Own Band Club will be interpreted as if I had been to all the band clubs of Malta."

The King's Own Band still bears the title of Eccellenza (Excellence), a tribute to the high level that the band had achieved in Algiers (1912) while participating in the Grand Concours International de Musique.

Later history

The band is composed of about 95 musicians. The band performs throughout the year, starting in March in preparation for the feast of St. Joseph in Rabat – Malta, through October/November in a grand finale in the form of the Annual Concert.

The master directors

  1. Giuseppi Borg 1874–1880
  2. Filippo Galea 1880–1886
  3. Ġiovanni Malfiggiani 1886–1888
  4. Corrado Ronzani 1888–1890
  5. Gaetano Grech 1890–1892
  6. Alfred Porkiman Hare 1892–1908
  7. Aurelio Doncich 1908–1914
  8. Giuseppe Monterosso 1914–1919
  9. Aurelio Doncich 1920–1930
  10. Francesco Gobet 1932–1937
  11. Giuseppe Casapinta 1938–1956
  12. Anthony Aquilina 1956–1973
  13. Carmelo Caruana 1973–2002
  14. John Galea 2003–

References

  • Official website