Extra concert in music festival

The 2003 Bir Miftuh Music Festival, organised by Din L-Art Helwa, has this year been extended to include a fourth concert.

The festival will be held at the church of Santa Marija ta' Bir Miftuh.

The first event will be held on Saturday, a harp concert by Cliona Doris, an experienced harpist, who has performed as a soloist and as a chamber and orchestral musician throughout Ireland, Britain, Europe and the US. The programme will consist of works by Marcel Tournier, Sophia Corri Dussek, Benjamin Britten, Hamilton Harty, Ian Wilson and William Mathias.

This concert is sponsored by the British Council with the special assistance of its director Ronnie Micallef. The second concert, on May 24, will be a guitar and mandolin concert by Ester Poli and Leopoldo Saracino.

Poli has performed as a soloist, as a chamber musician and with orchestras in several countries in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. She has broadcast on radio and television in Italy, Norway and Lithuania and has been highly acclaimed in many press reviews.

Saracino is a guitarist with the orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala di Milano. He has also played with the Orchestra of the Angelicum. Besides distinguishing himself as a guitar soloist, he has also performed with other outstanding musicians and with well known chamber music ensembles. At present he holds the post of professor of guitar at the Conservatorio di Monopoli, Bari.

The programme will include works by Alessandro Piccinini, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Antonio Vivaldi, Mauro Giuliani, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Manuel de Falla and a selection of traditional Neapolitan songs.

This concert is sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute with the special assistance of its director Rosanna Cravenna.

The third concert, on May 31, is a string concert for violin, viola and viola d'amore by Elizabeth Balmas and Pierre Henri Xuereb.

Balmas won several prestigious international awards throughout her studies. Her early performances as soloist included concerts with the BBC Orchestra, the Bucharest Philharmonic and the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse.

Xuereb is an internationally reputed viola player. As a soloist and chamber musician he collaborates with many famous ensembles and orchestras. He plays and teaches at international summer academies and festivals. He is professor of viola at the Paris Conservatoire and at the Ecole Nationale de Musique, in Gennevilliers.

The programme will comprise works by Jean-Marie Leclair, Karl Stanitz, Philippe Hersant, Eugene Ysaye, Charles Camilleri, Frank Bridge and Mozart.

This concert is sponsored by the Embassy of France and the Alliance Francaise with the special assistance of the Ambassador of France Patrick Chrismant and Anne Lewis-Loubignac, director of the Alliance.

The fourth and final concert on June 6 will be a violin concert by Dorle Fassmann and Theresia Meyer.

Fassmann is a very promising young musician. She has received numerous special awards in various national competitions both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. She plays at the Dessau School of Music with the Old Music Ensemble. She is a regular member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Saxony-Anhalt.

Meyer is another very promising young musician. Since 1995 she has attended the special School of Music in Dresden and has won numerous awards and special prizes. The duo has been playing together since 2001 with great success, receiving many awards.

The programme consists of works by Georg Philipp Telemann, Giovanni Battista Viotti and Bela Bartok.

This fourth concert is sponsored by the German Embassy with the special assistance of the Ambassador of Germany Georg Merten.

All concerts start at 8 p.m.

Tickets for each concert are Lm7.50 per person including refreshments during the interval. As the number of seats is limited, tickets are on a first come, first served basis.

Din L-Art Helwa can be contacted on tel. 21225952 or 21220358, Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and noon.