The Children’s Song Festival in Albania and “Marlee`s Got Talent” in Canada are two activities that divide the whole world, but that have much in common than can be imagined. These are activities dedicated to children, their love for Albanian song, their passion for music. The two are united by the constant struggle for survival, but thanks to the love and dedication of the organizers, they manage to bring a program every year, better than the last one. Above all these two activities have one thing in common: Albanian children. While the Children’s Song Festival is 100% Albanian production (in Albania and with Albanian children), “Marlee`s Got Talent” (MGT) is a talent show or festival of Albanian children in Toronto and beyond, which includes children of ages 4 to 18 and is organized voluntarily every year in late May or early June.
Ina Xoxa, teacher and choreographer says for the newspaper “Diaspora Shqiptare”: “I first started the musical activity with my two young children learning to sing and play piano and guitar Albanian songs. The two sang at the Flag Day in November 2011 organized by the Albanian-Canadian Community Association of Toronto. Seeing the desire of many parents of the Marlee Avenue neighborhood in Toronto, my passion for working with children and the encouragement of my old collaborator, Gentjana Aliaj, I took the initiative to form the Toronto Children’s Choir with the first 24 choirs. This young choir participated in the celebration of March 8, 2012, the celebration of the Albanian schools of Toronto in June 2012, as well as in the big Concert of the 100th Anniversary of Independence, all organized by the AAC of Toronto.
Then the desire to participate was growing so I thought of organizing a talent show where Albanian children would have the opportunity to sing in Albanian choir, dance our beautiful dances, play instruments, recite, and so on with a repertoire Albanian, Canadian and international. MGT was shown in May 2014 and so far we have organized six shows year after year. In 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the MGT choir has organized several online shows.
The Children’s Choir (MGT choir) today has over 40 members, including the Youth Choir (12 young people). A special merit in the success of the choir has the talented musician / violinist Entela Galanxhi, teacher and concertmaster at the Greater Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra (GTPO). Entela Galanxhi has voluntarily supported the choir since its creation by composing and arranging the music of 50 songs. Together with her husband, the talented musician Qazim Kallushi, teacher and executive director of GTPO as well as Mara Cako, teacher and pianist at GTPO, have accompanied the choir and soloists on stage at MGT performances over the years. Also the talented pianist Sofia Papadhimtri together with the master Jani Papadhimitri of “Trio Fammus” have accompanied the choir of Mgtse in some impressive performances.
The peculiarity of the choir and talent show is that children are accepted without auditions / selections as the primary goal of this festival is to offer all Albanian children, who have a desire, an opportunity to learn Albanian songs and dances, folklore and elaboration.
“The festival continues to be organized every year thanks to the desire of the children, the tireless work of the parents who help as much as they can, the sponsors and the benefactors. MGT invites all children from Toronto and the surrounding area to attend various festivals and activities. In recent years, the talented Albanian students of the Papadhimtri school in Toronto have also participated in the MGT Show “- emphasizes Mrs. Xoxa.
The oldest sponsors and collaborators, from the first appearance of the children on stage and onwards are: Gentjana Aliaj, LGH Art Photography (Genti & Lorida Hali), Albanian TV Pasqyra, Entela Galanxhi, Qazim Kallushi, Mara Cako, Sofia Papadhimtri, Rudin Lengo, Ardi Shtylla, Eva Hoxha, Alma Doku, Enkeleda Deda, Rei Misiri, Vilma Mebelli etc., etc. Several Albanian businesses in and around Toronto have supported the MGT Show each year with the cost of stage, costumes, choir costumes. We are grateful to everyone for their enthusiasm and desire to help inherit our culture to the children and youth of the diaspora.
Every year the children of this choir express their gratitude to the sponsors in a special video of gratitude that is shared on social networks.
In recent years MGts members have started working more together preparing group performances. A group of MGT youth share their dance and song experience with the little ones by helping them with video tutorials. It is a pleasure to see how MGT is thriving as a small community where everyone works voluntarily for months, with passion and responsibility to create beautiful shared memories. The most distinguished collaborators who help in choir and dance are the young women: Olivia Xoxa, E.A., Amanda Doku, Doreen Shtylla and Alyssa Dedelli. All of us parents who help prepare the play learn a lot from our children and complement each other by successfully combining the best of both cultures, Albanian and Canadian.
But who is the leader of this choir, Ina Xoxa? She has no musical qualifications, but is a graduate of General Medicine at the University of Tirana, while in Canada she works as a teacher at PDSB (Ontario Certified Teacher, OCT). She states that “I inherited my passion for music, art and work with children from my parents who were dedicated teachers and art lovers, and especially from me who was a concert organizer at school but also an activist in the community. I have had ongoing support in my volunteer work as choir director and artistic director of MGT Show from my family, my husband, Vaska Xoxa, and my children Scott and Olivia Xoxa. In recent years, my daughter, Olivia, has helped me a lot as a collaborator in the selection of songs, dance choreography by implementing the ideas of the younger generation in organizing performances.
Various activities of the MGT Choir:
MGT talent show every year since 2014;
Concerts, activities organized by AAC Toronto;
Toronto Albanian Schools Concert;
World Vision, Global 6K for Water Concert, accompanied by “Trio Fammus” (Jani & Sofia Papadhimtri);
Charity Concert organized by Linda & Ervin Meço;
Fundraising with donations from the children themselves and 2 choir songs in support of peers in Albania (Earthquake 2019);
The virtual concert of the Flag Day 2020 organized by the Albanian Embassy in Ottawa;
11th Vienna International Festival 2021 – World Peace Choral Festival 2021 (online). 300 choirs from 40 countries of the world take part in this festival. MGT Choir participated with two Albanian songs: “Margjelo” – Youth Choir and “Sing the whistle of the fields” MGTse Choir and both were awarded the “Bronze” prize.
