The Malta Football Association (MFA) has joined forces with a private orchestra to produce a music video commemorating the association’s 125th anniversary.
The video shows members of the Musea Orchestra, featuring vocalists Franklin Calleja and Kapitlu Tlettax, performing an arrangement of Irish pop-rock band The Script’s Hall of Fame on the pitch of Malta’s National Stadium, as former and current national squad members play football.
The Stronger as One music video “captures the way that football and music are united through dedication, passion, and a constant strive for improvement, despite being two disciplines from two completely different worlds”, the MFA and orchestra said in a joint statement.
A social media campaign promoting the video was launched earlier this month.
The two organisations noted that the video represented the first time an orchestra had stepped foot on the National Stadium pitch, with the project “a display of the uniting values that are present in both sports and music”.
MFA president Bjorn Vassallo said the collaboration “highlights the brilliance and creativity of the maestro through the orchestra, as well as the talent we have within our national teams, which represent our country and the whole nation”.
“It is a fact that the synergy and enthusiasm of the orchestra, together with the pride of our national teams, lead to the delight of the Maltese population. Therefore, it is of great satisfaction for us that we have collaborated with Musea Orchestra on this project.”
Maestro Matthew Bugeja (R) conducting the Musea Orchestra. Photo: Kieran Mark Galea.
The filming was the first time an orchestra had stepped foot on the national pitch. Photo: Kieran Mark Galea.
Meastro Matthew Bugeja, who arranged Hall of Fame for the video, called it a “genuine honour to collaborate with Malta’s national football teams on a project that highlights the shared values of excellence that bind sport and music”.
“In both fields, success is built on discipline, teamwork and a deep respect for the craft and each other. Conducting Musea Orchestra on the National Stadium’s turf, with the national teams, meant fulfilling a dream.”
The music video draws to a close the MFA’s commemoration of its 125th anniversary.
The association was founded in 1900, with Major William Henry Russel Prewer becoming the first president nine years later.