The Malta International Organ festival

The Malta International Organ festival is in its fourth year running, with a total of 18 concerts being held in Malta and Gozo and two masterclasses by world renowned professors.

The festival, that is currently being held and comes to an end on 7 December, is made up of 14 concerts that are being held in cathedrals, churches, basilicas and chapels in Malta, and another four in Gozo’s churches and cathedrals.

Among the star guest performers in this edition of the Malta International Organ Festival, is organist Julian Mallek from Germany, who collaborated with Semjon Kalinowsky on the viola to offer a varied programme using a combination of these two instruments, playing works by Bach, Marcello, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn and Eccles. The concert was held on 21 November at St Francis of Assisi church, Valletta.

Festival organiser and artistic director, Dr Joseph Lia, said that some of the world’s most prominent international organists will be performing during the festival, such as Andres Uibo, Marco D’Avola, Giuliana Maccaroni, Diego Cannizzaro, David Davies and Wayne Marshall. The festival will also be a platform for younger artists who have recently won international competitions like Zita Nautaryill and to Maltese organists, offering them both a prestigious performing platform and also free masterclasses to improve their technique.

Dr Lia added that this year, during one of the events, Wayne Marshall will be improvising music to the 1922 silent film Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror. This concert will be the first of its kind in Malta, as while showing F. W. Murnau’s German impressionist film, Wayne Marshall will improvise on the organ at the Anglican Cathedral in Valletta to create a symphony of horror using clashing harmonies and combining several registers to create a musical dramatic effect to complement the film.

Another highlight during this year’s festival will be an organ and voice recital by Maltese organist Hugo Agius Muscat and baritone Joseph Lia, to inaugurate the restoration of an 18th century positive organ that was found recently, after being lost for several years. This organ, which was restored by Robert Buhagiar with support from Eden Leisure Group, can now be found in Our Lady of Victories church in Valletta, which was the first church to be built in Valletta. Another interesting concert will be a Sunday teatime concert for four hands, and thus four feet, featuring Italian Belcanto opera melodies played by two organists coming from Rossini’s city – Pesaro.

The concerts to be held in Balluta, Siġġiewi, St Julian’s, Ħal Balzan, Birkirkara and Mosta and Xewkija, Citadella and Fontana in Gozo, will include the participation of several musicians, singers and choirs, and will be combining local and foreign talent, showcasing Maltese heritage and the power of the organ used as a solo instrument, as an accompanist and as part of an ensemble.

The festival will reach a climax with its final concert on 7 December at St Augustine Parish Church in Valletta, featuring works for organ solo and organ and orchestra. The Valletta Chamber Orchestra, which has now become the resident orchestra of this festival, will be conducted by the Italian conductor Riccardo Bianchi. This concert will feature solo organ works by Bach, Telemann’s Trumpet Concerto in D, Handel’s Organ Concerto in A and Mozart’s Church Sonatas.