Walter Micallef is a leading Maltesesinger songwriter, born in the central Maltese town of Birkirkara. He has composed well over a hundred songs in Maltese.
Childhood
He spent his childhood in Birkirkara when his family home was requisitioned by the state to build a public convenience. Three of his earlier songs, all still unreleased, are "Ġewwa Marsalforn", "Erġajt Sejjer Marsalforn" and "Xagħar Iswed". The first two are both played on the reggae beat and have only been performed in Valletta in 2004 and in Xewkija, Gozo in 2005. The track Xagħar Iswed, was written when Micallef was seventeen years old. A literal translation of a stanza taken from Xagħar Iswed, written in 1972, goes as:
Black and wavy hair, beautiful lips, mellow smile, it's our love that I seek, I admire her and she knows all this.
Micallef has won the major Maltese artistic awards. He has won the , founded by the Youth Travel Circle in 1973, several times. In 1979, he won with "Ġuvni", followed with success in 1992 with "Iż-Żmien" and in 1994 with "In-Nofsinhar". He won best lyrics in 1994 with "Le", in 1999 with "Sieħbi fil-Cupboard tal-Kċina", in 2005 with "Għaċ-Ċkejkna", and in 2006 with "Lil Malta". Writing in Malta Today on 23 March 2001, critic Miriam Dunn remarked that "listening to the intelligent usage he makes of the Maltese language in his work, it is difficult to imagine that some years back, he decided to switch his songwriting from the English language". Although he had been around since 1973, it was in February 2003 that he released his first album, entitled , and it contains fifteen tracks written between 1981 and 2001. "Awwissu" is the most popular track from this album. On 18 March 2004, he launched his Walter Micallef u l-Ħbieb band, including Etnika's double bassist Oliver DeGabriele, as Malta's representative in the UNESCO Suisse charity event One World Beat . This was followed by four concerts in July 2004 at the St. James Cavalier Arts Centre in Valletta, featuring his current . He made appearances on German television stations ZDF and Bayerisches Fernsehen, as well as several regional French stations. Micallef was shortlisted for Best Male Artist in 2004 for the Malta Music Awards, and has continued to win acclaim and awards for his lyrics. He received the in July 2006 for his proactive environmental songs, aimed at raising social consciousness. . On 23 March 2007, he released his second album, Ħamsin to a packed house at the Powerhouse Theatre , Valletta Waterfront in Floriana. His modern folk includes WOMAD performer Renzo Spiteri on percussion, Eric Wadge on bass, Pawlu Camilleri 'l-Bibi' on harmonica, on accordion and piano, and Jes Psaila on acoustic, semi-acoustic and electric guitars. Ħamsin includes twelve tracks, with thematic content ranging from romantic songs such as "Wara l-Ħajt" and "Min Hi?" to pro-environmental songs like "L-Aħħar Sekondi" and "Lil Malta". On 6 May 2007the album was at the top of the D'Amato Music Best 20 Malta hit parade.
