What’s on in Malta and Gozo this week: April 14 to 20, 2025
Highlights of events in the coming days
MUSIC
Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over
US singer Dionne Warwick will present an insightful evening of storytelling, anecdotes and music at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta on April 19. She is performing in Malta as part of a European tour.
The Grammy Award winner is known for such hits as Walk on By, Heartbreaker, I Say a Little Prayer, That’s What Friends Are For and Don’t Make Me Over.
The event is organised by NnG Promotions. Tickets from showshappening.com.
Read more about Warwick and the event in this Times of Malta interview.
Gaulitana: A Festival of Music
Organist Stefano VagniniThe festival continues on April 16 with an event at the Basilica of the Visitation, Għarb. Stefano Vagnini will perform organ improvisations inspired by Lenten hymns as the 1903 silent movie La Vie et La Passion de Jésus Christ is shown on screen.
On April 19, Sarah Spiteri will present a baroque violin and viola solo recital at Savina church, Victoria, at 11.30am. Featuring some of the most celebrated composers from the mid-17th to early 18th century, In Stile Barocco showcases the stylistic diversity and virtuosity that defined the period.
Gozitan soprano Stephanie Portelli will team up with Maria Elena Farrugia for Puccini & Verdi: The Art Songs on Easter Sunday. They will perform opuses from the two Italian masters at Hotel Ta’ Ċenċ in Sannat.
Throughout the month-long festival, the exhibition In Harmony: 19th Century Music Printing in Malta is open between 9am and 5pm at the Ċittadella Cultural Centre.
Gaulitana: A Festival of Music runs until May 4. Events are free of charge and start at 7.30pm, unless otherwise indicated. For more information, visit www.gaulitanus.com.
APS Bank Holy Week concert: Mozart’s Requiem
Mozart’s Requiem, a masterpiece of mystery and majesty, is being performed at St John’s Co-Cathedral on April 15 at 7.30pm.
Organised by APS Bank, the concert will feature the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, soprano Nicola Said, mezzo soprano Graziella Debattista, tenor Alan Sciberras and bass Noel Galea.
They will be accompanied by the Coro Kemonia, under the direction of Salvatore Scinaldi.
The event is sold out.
Easter Sunday concert
The Miner Franciscan Fathers, assisted by the Cultural Directorate within the Ministry for Gozo, Visit Malta, Għajnsielem local council and the JP2 Cultural Foundation, are organising an Easter Sunday concert at St Anthony of Padua church in Għajnsielem, at 8pm.
International Spanish soprano Montserrat Martí Caballé, daughter of the famous operatic soprano, Montserrat Caballé − known for her 1987 duet with Freddie Mercury, Barcelona, later used for the 1992 Olympic Games − is the main guest performer.
The evening will also host local singers Hilda Grima, Roberta Hili, Gannella Muscat, Ruth Portelli and Angelo Muscat.
The JP2 Music Ensemble will be accompanying the singers, while Mro John Galea will conduct the evening.
Entrance is free.
Montserrat Martí Caballé. Photo: FacebookTHEATRE
Is-Siġġijiet
A Maltese adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s one-act play The Chairs is being staged for a second weekend at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta, from April 18 to 20.
The tragic farce, directed by Lee-N Abela with translation by Claudine Borg, follows an elderly couple who prepares for a gathering of important guests to hear the husband’s life-changing speech, but they are alone in a room filled with empty chairs.
The play explores themes of communication, existential despair and the absurdity of life, ultimately highlighting the futility of human efforts to find meaning or connection.
Antonella Axisa, Mikhail Basmadjian and Arthur Dumas star in the play.
The project is supported by the French Embassy. Tickets from kreattivita.org.
Mikhail Basmadjian and Antonella Axisa in Is-Siġġijiet.TOI TOI: The Boy Band Chronicles
TOI TOI is presenting The Boy Band Chronicles, featuring various artists singing hit after hit, from April 19 to 21.
Accompanied by a live orchestra, led by Edward Mifsud, with choreography by Warren Bonello, the show explores the history of boy bands with TOI TOI’s own brand of fun, from the New Kids on the Block, Boyzone, Westlife and One Direction.
Tickets from teatrumanoel.mt.
Beauty and the Beast on Ice
Top international performers are bringing to life the beloved fairytale on ice at the MFCC in Ta’ Qali from April 19 to 21.
The event is organised by Grapevine Music in collaboration with Visit Malta and International Ice Stars.
Tickets from showshappening.com.
HOLY WEEK EVENTS
Passion plays and pageants
Kristu Lura fi Strada Stretta by Freespirit Acting at The Splendid in Valletta, until April 19. Tickets from ticketline.com.mt.
Lumen Fidei, by the Tarxien Pageant Group in Tarxien on April 14 and 15 at 7pm. Tickets from biljett.mt.
L-Erbgħa tat-Tniebri, featuring a short re-enactment in Misraħ is-Sliem, Żabbar, followed by a Biblical walk along the streets with over 300 participants, including St Michael's Band, and the scout bands of Żabbar and Xgħajra, on April 16 at 7pm.
Carlos Farrugia and Sarah Camilleri in Kristu Lura fi Strada Stretta. Photo: Facebook/Freespirit ActingConcerts
The Journey of Sorrow and Hope, choral performances by Chorus Urbanus Junior Choir and soloists at Our Lady of Divine Grace church, (Kappuċċini), Victoria, on April 14 at 6.30pm.
La Redenzione, by the Soċjetà Filarmonika Santa Marija Mosta, with the participation of soprano Claire Caruana, tenor Georg Zammit and the Kor Marija Assunta, on April 14 at the Mosta Basilica at 8pm.
Funeral marches by the Għaqda Filarmonika Prince of Wales Own, Vittoriosa, on April 14 at St Dominic church, Vittoriosa, at 7.30pm.
Funeral marches by the Beland Band on April 15 at 8pm at Republic Square, Żejtun.
Spes Unica by the Leone Band Club and the Aurora Youth Choir at the Gozo Cathedral, Victoria, on April 15 at 8pm.
Adoratio Crucis, a sacred music recital featuring the St Joseph Band School of Music with the participation of Virgo Choir, at Għajnsielem’s old parish church, on April 16 at 7pm.
In Finem Dilexit Eos, a concert of sacred music and reflections on the Passion of Christ in a contemporary context, presented by the Santa Marija Philharmonic Society at St Mary’s parish church, Żebbuġ, Gozo, on April 16 at 7.30pm.
FILM
Picasso: A Rebel in Paris – Story of a Life and a Museum
Fifty years after his passing, the Eden Cinemas in St Julian’s is showing a biopic of the well-known Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, following his journey from a young, impoverished man to a 20th-century icon.
Above all, the film features the creative energy of the revolutionary genius, who has a national museum dedicated to him in the heart of the French capital.The documentary is directed by Simona Risi.
There will be screenings on April 16 at 8.30am and on April 20 at 4pm. Tickets from edencinemas.com.mt.
The film's posterNeil Young Coastal
This documentary on musician Neil Young is showing worldwide for one night only on April 17.
Directed by acclaimed film-maker and Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah, Coastal offers a glimpse behind the curtain of this unguarded iconoclast, as he navigates a return to the stage post-COVID – from his everyday observations on the bus to his candid, wry banter with his audience. The film also features songs rarely, if ever played live, performed in breathtakingly beautiful theatres.
The local screening, certified 15, will take place at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta, at 7.30pm. Tickets from kreattivita.org.
Neil Young in Neil Young Coastal. Photo: Facebook/Neil Young - Reprise Records