The Valletta International Baroque Festival is one of the largest

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

s of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was founded by its present Artistic Director Kenneth Zammit Tabona in 2013. The programmatic focus is on

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

History

Since its establishment in 2013, the ''Valletta International Baroque Festival'' is held every year in January and organized by the direction of

Manoel Theatre ( Maltese for "Manoel Theatre"; it, Teatro Manoel) is a theatre and important performing arts venue in Malta. The theatre is often referred to as simply "The Manoel", and is named after Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller, Fr ...

. The concerts and opera performances are presented in several Baroque buildings in the city of

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

. Among the artists who have performed at the festival are Mahan Esfahani,

Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from Rena ...

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and European music of the 17th and 18 ...

, and

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of ...

. On 26 January 2017,

Reuben Pace Reuben Pace (born in 1974) is a Maltese composer. Life Reuben Pace was educated at University of Malta as well as Bangor University, where he received his PhD in 2012. One of his teachers was Charles Camilleri. During his studies he began ...

's Concertino for guitar,

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

and orchestra was premiered at Manoel Theatre under the slogan ''Inspired by Baroque'' with the

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is recognized as Malta’s foremost musical institution. Founded in 1968 as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra, in September 1997 it became an independent body and was officially named as Malta's national orchestra. In ...

under the direction of

Michelle Castelletti Michelle Castelletti (born 1974) is a Malta, Maltese conductor. Michelle Castelletti has studied at the University of Malta, Canterbury Christ Church University, and New College, Oxford, New College, University of Oxford. She worked with orchestra ...

as well as the soloists

Johanna Beisteiner Johanna Beisteiner (born 20 February 1976) is an Austrian classical guitarist, singer and arranger. Life Johanna Beisteiner received her first guitar lessons at the age of nine at the Josef Matthias Hauer music school in her hometown Wien ...

(guitar) and Joanne Camilleri (harpsichord). It was the first

world premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its f ...

during the ''Valletta International Baroque Festival'' and signaled an artistic expansion of the festival's programme to contemporary works inspired by baroque music.

References

External links

Festival official website
2013 establishments in Malta Recurring events established in 2013 Early music festivals Music festivals in Malta Annual events in Malta Winter events in Malta Culture in Valletta {{music-festival-stub