This summer's Malta Arts Festival announced

The Malta Arts Festival has invited top performers of international repute in its constant commitment to present to its audiences events of the highest quality. Foreign and Maltese artists are expected to appear on the Festival’s platform in a three-week extravaganza of artistic events. The Festival direction is confident that the programme of events, covering an array of diverse styles and genres, will appeal to everyone.

The 2011 edition of the Festival is dedicated to Maltese composer Charles Camilleri who passed away two years ago and would have celebrated his 80th birthday this year. Camilleri was one of the first Maltese artists who put Malta on the international map with his avant-garde approach to music that sought to unearth traditions within the context of the new.

The opening night on July 1 features one of Camilleri’s last major works for orchestra – the New Idea Symphony, in its Malta premiere after several performances in other countries including Belgium and France.

The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of conductor Brian Schembri will also perform Stravinsky’s famous Firebird Suite and Tchaikovsky’s popular 1st Piano Concerto with Ukrainian Oleg Poliansky at the piano.

Following the Opener on 1 July, the Festival will present the Strada Wine and Art Festival, bringing together good food, wine, and art in two picturesque streets of Valletta, South and Strait Street. Similar to previous years the event promises to patrons a relaxed atmosphere surrounded by visual artists and musicians.

A string of world-renowned performers and ensembles performing in this year’s edition, the sixth since the Festival started in 2006, continues to make it one of the most sought-after events in the Maltese Cultural calendar.

The Kronos Quartet will present Around the World with Kronos featuring string quartet music from different parts of the globe, while famous Cellist Enrico Dindo will perform three of the six Bach Cello Suites following his recent Decca release of the whole set.

Maltese music lovers are in for a major treat with Malta’s most popular band The Big Band Brothers who will present Ftakar, a revival of Maltese popular music from the 1960s and 70s. 

Dance features prominently with four productions kicking off with Puerto Flamenco’s brand new production Ring, featuring well known Maltese dancer Francesca Grima.

Austrian contemporary dance ensemble Das Collectif will present Stomping La Luna a dance performance inspired by Carl Orff’s Opera The Moon. In collaboration with the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) Inter-Ministerial Committee, and in view of Malta’s nomination for ECoC 2018, the Festival will present The Barbarossa Project a spectacular dance performance that was part of the Istanbul ECoC 2010 programme of events.

Barbarossa is a State Opera and Ballet of Turkey production. The Malta Arts Festival is giving particular importance to the collaboration with the ECoC Inter-Ministerial Committee. David Felice, Chair of the committee, describes the European Capital of Culture as ‘the most visible cultural event in Europe today and the one with the highest artistic quality.

It presents excellent opportunities to collaborate with other cities that have been or will be Culture Capitals’. He describe the Barbarossa Project as ‘one of the major events in Istanbul 2010’ and believes that ‘its inclusion in this year’s edition of the Malta Arts Festival will add a new dimension to cultural life in Malta’.

Two Malta Arts Festival commissions include the fourth dance event this year. Mavin Khoo Dance will premiere their latest creation 00.00-00.01. Described by choreographer Mavin Khoo as ‘a new reading of the romantic tragedy Swan Lake’, the production is a collaboration between Maltese and UK dancers.

The second commission features the Italian contemporary theatre ensemble Laboratorio di Castaldo. Following their successful appearance in last year’s edition, the Turin based group will perform Welcoming the End of the World, a parody of the coming of the end of human life. The performance with its comic twists will surely go down well with theatre lovers and will contrast well with Shakespeare’s tragic masterpiece Hamlet, straight from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.

The last Night of the Festival on 23rd July features world renowned conductor Wayne Marshall who will conduct the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in two of the most popular works with audiences worldwide, Ravel’s Bolero and Orff’s spectacular Carmina Burana.

After five years of activity the Festival is changing its branding and general image. Simon Debono, director of Switch Design and Brand Strategy, the company in charge of the designs, said:  “Our business is built on artistry and creativity, so it was natural that we immediately accepted to sponsor the Malta Arts Festival.

“Creating the identity for this year’s event was a project that our design studio relished and thoroughly enjoyed working on. We’ve already worked with the MCCA on other projects and the teamwork is great – I hope and am sure that we can keep on working together on other projects going forward, especially The Malta Arts Festival, since “the arts” in all forms are something that we at Switch hold very close to heart.”

Jeremy Cassar, director of Marsovin, another supporter of the Malta Arts Festival, adds: ‘Marsovin has been supporting the Art in Malta for over 30 years, the fact that Marsovin has committed to support the Malta Arts Festival, emphasises this even further. The Malta Arts Festival has become an integral part of Marsovin and Malta's cultural calendar, we hope that through the support we are giving, this event can grow and improve from one year to the next.’

While aiming at highlighting Maltese artistic identity the Festival projects Maltese art within a wider European dimension as well as promoting diversity and collaboration in order to ensure the highest possible standards.

Particular attention is given to present the Festival audiences more popular events that appeal to a broad audience with different styles and tastes for all. While retaining the reputation of quality the festival has established over the past five years, the programme aims at reaching a broader audience.