Music In the Air

Summer has arrived and with it can be heard the first faint notes of the Victoria International Arts Festival, a five-week music festival held in the heart of Victoria, which has come to represent high-calibre performers from all over Europe. For five weeks, musicians from the UK, Italy, France, Norway, Holland, Germany, Ukraine, Finland, Czech Republic, Austria, and Syria, together with local performers, will walk the streets of Victoria, filling its various venues with music.

Now in its twelfth year, the Victoria Arts Festival has grown from a small festival preceding the feast of St George in Victoria to a fully-fledged festival which this year will run between 11 June and 13 July. With no fewer than 29 concerts - featuring soloists, duos, chamber ensembles, choral ensembles, bands, ballet and the National Philharmonic Orchestra – the festival promises to offer as wide a spectrum of musical idioms as possible, ranging from the classical to the contemporary.

Throughout its 12 years, the festival has kept its aims in mind: to promote unity through the diversity of cultural backgrounds and to expose local music lovers and students to top class music-making, as well as giving them the opportunity to interact with visiting professionals through master classes and concerts.

Highlights will include the concluding concert on 13 July, with the participation of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, world-class cellist Daniel Veis, renowned organist Scott Farrell, the Laudate Pueri Choir under the direction of Prof. Joseph Vella, in works of Saint-Seans, Fauré and Vella. Another event worth noting is the Evening of Dance, (Alison White troupe) on 26 June in Independence Square.

Local talent is being promoted in various ways, not least by the Composer Speaks Series/Debutants Concert on 15 June. This year, an evening of drama featuring Gozo Creative Theatre Club presenting Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie at the Cittadella Centre for Arts, Culture and Crafts on 30 June will add a new dimension to the festival, as will the Literary-Historical Evening on 16 June at St George’s Basilica, conducted by Stanley Fiorini and Orazio Vella.

Concerts start at 20.00 except The Evening of Ballet (26 June), which starts at 20.30. All concerts are free of charge. Patrons are to be seated 15 minutes prior to commencement. A donation of E70 entitles the patron to a reserved seat for all the 29 concerts. Please send your contributions to “Victoria International Arts Festival” c/o 72 Vajringa Street, Victoria, Gozo. For more details email: frgfrendo@yahoo.co.uk or visit our website www.sgeorge.org.mt

Acknowledgement is due to St George’s Basilica, Ministry for Gozo, Ministry of Education and Culture, Good Causes Fund - Ministry of Finance, MTA, MIA, Bank of Valletta, AIRMALTA, Alliance Française, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Sliema Lions Club Arts Foundation, Victoria Local Council, Gozo School of Music, Sir Arturo Mercieca Primary School, Sisters of the Sacred Heart Convent and San Andrea Hotel.