Three concerts planned for Bir Miftuh Music Festival

Din L-Art Helwa is once again organising the Bir Miftuh Music Festival consisting of three concerts on May 25, June 1 and 8, starting at 8 p.m.

The church of Santa Marija ta` Bir Miftuh will provide the setting for the festival.

A flute and guitar concert by Michele Mo and Francesco Biraghi will be held on May 25.

Sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute, the concert has been made possible through the efforts of Rosanna Cravenna, the director.

Michele Mo, a celebrated flautist, has specialised in contemporary music. He is the winner of several national and international competitions and has taken part in many important music festivals.

He has played with the RAI Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Regio Theatre of Turin and has various radio and television recordings to his credit.

At present, he is first flute and artistic director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Turin and Professor of Flute at the Istituto Pareggiato of Aosta.

Francesco Biraghi, a renowned guitarist, graduated from the Conservatorio G. Verdi of Milan, and is also a professor of guitar there.

The programme will consist of works by Theodor W. Gaude, Mauro Guiliani, Celso Machado, David Leisner, Bela Bartok and Astor Piazzolla.

Trio de Guitares de Paris - Michel Sadanowsky, Raymond Gratien and Thierry Lebre - will present a concert sponsored by the French embassy and the Alliance Francaise de Malte on June 1.

French ambassador Didier Destremeau and Ms A. Lewis-Loubignac, director of the Alliance, have assisted in bringing these famous musicians to the island.

The trio founded in 1984 by Michel Sadanowsky, played in many French festivals, in the US, South America and in many countries in eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

The programme offers a journey along the history of the guitar from a very classical concerto by Vivaldi to the jazzy tunes of the French jazzman Django Reinhardt through French, Spanish and South American music. It will cover works by Vivaldi, Boccherini, Meranger, Albeniz, Maldonado, De Falla and Reinhardt.

A piano recital by Antony Peebles will be held on June 8.

The recital is sponsored by the British Council.

Peebles has given solo recitals in no fewer than 123 different countries. In the UK he has played as concert soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Liverpool Philharmonic, the Birmingham Symphony, the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC Welsh Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia and other orchestras of high repute.

He broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and performs world-wide as part of the Peebles-Georgiadis piano-violin duo. He has also made many recordings, including works by Ravel, Liszt and Schubert.

The programme comprises works by Schubert, Rossini, Brahms, Grieg and Liszt.

Tickets for each concert are Lm7.50 per person, including free refreshments served during the interval.

As the number of seats is limited, tickets will be issued on a first come, first served basis.

For further information contact Din L-Art Helwa, 133 Melita Street, Valletta, on 21 225952 or tel./fax 21220358, Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and noon.