Austrian adventure for Malta Youth Orchestra

The Malta Youth Orchestra’s first international partnership has seen a number of its musicians travel to Austria for two joint concerts with the Jugendorchester Stattegg (JOS), a youth orchestra based in a picturesque village just outside the city of Graz.

The project had seen the MYO host their Austrian counterparts during the Easter period, in a visit which culminated in two concerts at Sliema’s Teatru Salesjan.

The two young orchestras rehearsed at length to put up a two-hour programme spanning a number of genres, which included music by Maltese and Austrian composers as well as arrangements written especially for the occasion. The visit also comprised a number of cultural activities through which the MYO showed their Austrian guests around the Maltese Islands, including visits to Valletta, Mdina and the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Temples.

This month, 26 string and percussion musicians from the Malta Youth Orchestra visited Graz, where they were hosted by the families of their Austrian counterparts, providing them a unique insight into the region’s culture and family life.

The JOS organised several excursions for the MYO, including a guided tour of the city of Graz, where they were welcomed inside the Parliament of the Austrian state of Styria by Municipal councillor Sissi Potzinger as a special honour, and excursions to the scenic forests and mountains adorning the region.

The first of two concerts took place in the beautiful Minorittensaal, located in the historical centre of Graz. The concert was attended by the Maltese Ambassador to Austria Keith Azzopardi, who expressed his delight at the collaboration, as well as the honorary Maltese Consul in Graz Alois Sundl. Members of the Malteser Hospitaldienst Austria, an Austrian branch of the Knights of Malta, were also present.

The second concert took place at the Lässerhoff in Stattegg and was attended by Stattegg mayor Karl Zimmermann, who had accompanied the JOS on their trip to Malta. Zimmerman welcomed the collaboration between the two orchestras, highlighting that such exchanges had social and human benefits as well as musical ones.

The two concerts were led by the founder of the JOS, Mro Karl Vorraber, and by the MYO’s resident conductor Riccardo Bianchi. Both were sold out.

The exchange between the MYO and the JOS was endorsed by the Valletta 2018 Foundation.

Malta Youth Orchestra’s brass section head to Alicante

The brass section of the Malta Youth Orchestra headed to Spain for a week of intensive training at the renowned Brass Academy Alicante earlier this month.

The musicians followed a number of masterclasses with various internationally-renowned music professors, as active and passive participants. In addition to these lessons, they had the opportunity to attend a concert every evening, featuring different brass ensemble formations.

Their visit coincided with the International Summer Brass Festival Alicante, which is organised by the academy, and at the end of their week in the city, the musicians performed at one of the festival’s closing concerts, which was held at the Concatedral de San Nicolás, where they were awarded certificates for their participation in the festival.

The academy’s professors observed that the MYO’s musicians had shown great interest and progress during the days they spent in Alicante and expressed their hope that the youths would persevere in their music studies.

The MYO’s principal trumpet, Isaac Lucas, is presently furthering his studies at the Brass Academy Alicante, having been admitted to the institution last year.

The musicians’ trip was made possible by the MPO Academy and was endorsed by the Valletta 2018 Foundation.