The Malta Society of Arts would like to send condolences to the family and friends of Dame Marie Therese Vassallo, who passed away yesterday. Marie Therese was active at the MSA through the various events she organised at our Palazzo de La Salle over the years. She was the much-loved tutor of many of our music students, who she guided for their exams with the London College of Music, of whom the MSA is the sole representative in Malta.
Biography
Dame Marie Therese Vassallo started singing and playing the guitar, piano and violin at a young age. Vassallo was a dedicated singer (mezzo-soprano), vocal tutor and musical director with many years of experience in the music industry.
In 1987 she established the Choir of Marie Therese Vassallo Voice Studio, when she started building the foundations of her solid reputation in the musical field both in Malta and abroad. She travelled and performed in a range of countries all over the world including France, Wales, the United Kingdom and more. She took part in Sables D’Olonnes in France, Wales, London, Havant and Portsmouth. Her repertoire includes a range of styles including opera, standard, modern, folk, sacred music and musical theatre.
Dame Marie Therese Vassallo has mastered singing in a range of languages including Maltese, English, Russian, German, Italian and French. Her choir later on became the resident choir at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Church in Balluta. During her extensive career in the music industry, Dame Marie Therese Vassallo was awarded two scholarships at the Academie Internationale de Formation Musicale, where she was awarded a number of diplomas and invited to give a variety of recitals in public. Later on she went on to study at the London College of Music where she was awarded a diploma and a licentiate.
Throughout her career, Vassallo won several international singing competitions including the Festival Del Grappolo D’Oro, Vulcano D’Oro, Festival Della Canzone Mediterranea and more. She also helped fund the Ghaqda Kantanti Lirici Maltin and had been its president since 1990.