The Malta Independent on Sunday
Modern Music Days’ paves the way for new conventions
Modern Music Days will blur the boundaries between art-forms in an innovative performance on 15 September at the Valletta Campus Theatre
This September, as part of the Evenings on Campus programme, Modern Music Days will connect the work of local and international composers with video-art and contemporary dance.
“The borders between the different art forms are becoming ever more blurred,” explains artistic director of Modern Music Days, Ruben Zahra. “Today many artists shift between different art forms: visual artists use music in their installations while musicians apply video-art in their work.”
Percussionists Daniel Cauchi, Luke Baldacchino and Kristian Schembri will present three works for percussion: Trio per Uno by Nebojsa Zivkovic is visually and musically dominated by a single bass drum surrounded by bongos and Chinese gongs. The second percussion piece on the programme is Surprise! composed by the Dutch ensemble, Pulse Percussion Trio. In this piece, the protagonist instrument is the marimba – a keyboard percussion instrument consisting of wooden bars struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The three percussionists exchange positions on the same instrument as they hammer out melodic patterns for this virtuoso showpiece. The programme will also include percussion works by Maltese composer Charles Camilleri.
Transit by Dutch composer Michel Van der Aa and All Work & No Play by Ruben Zahra will utilise video-art to engage the audience in a musical dialogue between the visual narrative and score, performed by Tricia Dawn William.
The grand finale will take the form of a contemporary rendition of the iconic ballet Parade, which includes the music of Erik Satie, a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau with costumes and sets designed by Pablo Picasso. Under the artistic direction of Zahra, new media techniques – including stop-motion animation and projection dancing – will transform the viewer’s experience into an unforgettable one.
Since its launch in 2015, Modern Music Days has crafted a new space for the appreciation and understanding of contemporary music. Through a series of concerts, organised in collaboration with Teatru Manoel, the Valletta 2018 Foundation and the Malta Association for Contemporary Music, the aim of Modern Music Days is to promote the performance of a 20th century repertoire and contemporary music in Malta. Modern Music Days will be held on Saturday, 15 September at 9pm at the Valletta Campus Theatre in Valletta (former MITP). For more information visit www.modernmusicdays.eu. Tickets are available from www.ticketline.com.mt