Konstantin Ishkhanov: ‘World’s finest musicians’ to play at InClassica

From April 17th to May 11th next year, Malta will host the tenth edition of the InClassica Malta International Music Festival, an extraordinary musical extravaganza featuring eight orchestras, 33 world-renowned soloists and eight leading conductors. 

The festival will take place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC) in Malta’s capital city, Valletta, for an event which will see the MCC open its doors to some of the most celebrated and accomplished musicians from the world of classical music, in an ambitious programme spanning 25 consecutive days of evening performances.

Dubbed the ‘World’s Biggest Musical Observatory’, InClassica will present an extraordinary programme of concerts from some of the biggest names in classical music, for an event poised to deliver on its promise of ‘bringing the stars to you’ as it welcomes legendary soloists including Martha Argerich, Grigory Sokolov and Maxim Vengerov.

Organised by the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC) in collaboration with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), InClassica is sure to engage and delight audiences with its unique roster of internationally recognised soloists, conductors and orchestras.

“After such a difficult year for so many musicians and music-lovers the EUFSC is thrilled to be able to offer three weeks of outstanding music-making from some of the world’s finest musicians. The setting in Malta couldn’t be more beautiful, and visitors are guaranteed a cultural experience that is unique to this enchanting Mediterranean island.” - Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC.

Visiting soloists include:

• Triple Grammy Award winner, pianist Martha Argerich;

• ECHO Klassik Award winner, Gold Medal of Salzburg and Vienna recipient, pianist Rudolf Buchbinder;

• Legendary pianist Grigory Sokolov;

• Emmy and ECHO Klassik Award, Orphee d’or winner soprano Danielle de Niese;

• 7 times ECHO Klassik Award winner violinist Daniel Hope;

• Leonard Bernstein Award winner, WEMAG-Soloist prizewinner, holder of the ‘Beethoven Ring’ pianist Kit Armstrong;

• Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, violinist Roman Simovic;

• Grammy Award, twice Gramophone Classical Music Award, Classic Brit Award and 5 times Edison Classical Music Award winner Maxim Vengerov;

• Winner of the prestigious Classical BRIT Award pianist Frederic Kempf;

• Clarinet soloist at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Andreas Ottensamer;

• Winner of the Tchaikovsky International Competition, famous pianist Denis Matsuev;

• Grammy Award and International Tchaikovsky Competition winner, violinist Gidon Kremer;

• Gramophone’s Instrumental Album of the Year winner, Critics’ Choice at the Classic BRITS awards and CBE recipient, cellist Steven Isserlis;

• Co-leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, violinist Carmine Lauri;

• Youngest Deutsche Grammophon artist, violinist Daniel Lozakovich;

...and many more.

The resident MPO and Malta Youth Orchestra will be joined by six renowned international orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Israel), State Philharmonic Orchestra Of Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (Belgium), Russian National Orchestra and Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. These celebrated ensembles will perform under the batons of leading conductors Michael Francis, Gergely Madaras, Gianluca Marciano, Alexander Shelley, Alexander Sladovsky, Sergey Smbatyan, Marius Stravinsky and Dmitry Yablonsky.

In addition to the festival’s concert programme the event will also feature the ‘Classic Piano’ Malta International Piano Competition, an event which will see 70 participants from around the world bring their technical expertise, musicality and professionalism to bear as they compete for a total prize fund of €300,000. Each of the participants have been selected from preceding rounds as part of ‘14 Ways to Malta’, a two-year series of preliminary piano competitions at locations around the world including Hamburg, Vienna, Washington, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Rome, Seoul, Zurich, London, Antwerp, Berlin, Moscow and Yerevan. Performing the first two rounds solo, the finalists who are accepted into the third and fourth rounds of the ‘Classic Piano’ competition will perform in these last two stages with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (ASSO) under the baton of Gianluca Marciano.

Both InClassica and the ‘Classic Piano’ competition will feature music by Composer-In-Residence, Alexey Shor, a New York based composer whose works have been performed all over the world by ensembles including the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, the Brandenburg State Orchestra and many others. Shor’s music was performed at the 40th Gramophone Classical Music Awards ceremony in London in 2018.

Also featured this year will be the Malta Classical Music Academy, an extensive programme of masterclasses and seminars for piano, violin, cello, clarinet, saxophone and flute led by celebrated professors from around the world. Those interested to take part should visit the website to register their interest.

InClassica promises to bring to Malta a veritable celebration of classical music, in a programme that is ambitious as it is extraordinary. Those interested would be well advised not to miss this rare opportunity to witness firsthand such inspirational and exceptional practitioners of this revered art form, at an event welcoming so many stars of classical music to Malta.

The InClassica Malta International Music Festival will take place 17 April – 11 May at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.

For full information, visit www.inclassica.com.

Please note that InClassica utilises social distance compliant seating when booking tickets at showshappening.com should such measures still be in place at the time of the event.