Carmelo Pace

Maestro Chev. Carmelo Pace (August 17, 1906 – May 20, 1993) was a Maltese composer, and a professor of music theory and harmony. Born in Valletta, Malta on August 17, 1906, Pace was the eldest of three children. His parents were Anthony Pace and Maria Carmela née Ciappara. Education In his childhood, Pace’s family lived in an apartment on Strada Mercanti, Valletta, which they shared with his maternal uncle, Vincenzo Ciappara. Ciappara was himself a musician of some repute, and he was Pace’s earliest tutor. Pace attended Saint Augustine College in Valletta, where he became very active in the student choir. During frequent visits to his father’s workplace at the Commerce movie theatre on Strada Reale in Valletta, Pace became enamoured of the impromptu style of live musical accompaniment played by the resident quartet during screenings of silent films. He soon became a regular player at the movie theatre. Following an introduction by his uncle, Pace took up the violin under the tutelage of Prof. Carlo Fiamingo, and studied harmony, counterpoint, orchestration and composition with Vincenzo Ciappara, Antonio Genova and Thomas Mayne. In 1931, he received a Diploma in Musical Instruction