MUSIC
Vernal Festival: Nek and UB40
The Vernal Festival is back for its second edition, featuring two main concerts, headlined by international acts Nek and UB40 on March 7 and 8, respectively.
The Italian pop-rock singer Nek is known for timeless hits like Laura non c’è and Sei solo tu. Emma Muscat will make a special guest appearance during the March 7 concert, while local band Red Electric will be the supporting act.
The legendary band UB40 are known for their genre-blending versatility, combining reggae, pop and rock. They are known for iconic tracks such as Red Red Wine, Kingston Town and Can’t Help Falling in Love. Local band The Travellers will be the supporting act.
They will both perform at the MFCC in Ta’ Qali. Tickets from showshappening.com.
Nek. Photo: FacebookAn Evening of German lieder
The Jesuits’ Church Foundation, in its first collaboration with the Opera Nova Project, is presenting a recital of German lieder at the Oratory of the Onorati, in Valletta, on March 6 at 7.30pm.
Sopranos Dorothy Bezzina and Mardy Farrugia and tenor Tom Armitage will perform a programme of works by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, among others. They will be accompanied on the piano by Elaine Mercieca.
Entrance is free but donations are welcome.
Women’s Day Concert by Vox Dulcis Chorale
Vox Dulcis Chorale is once again celebrating International Women’s Day with a concert at the Malta Society of Arts premises, Palazzo de la Salle, in Valletta, on March 8 at 8pm.
The all-female choir will be singing choral arrangements of jazz favourites, musical theatre, as well as contemporary songs, with themes such as hope, love and courage.
These include the jazz tune Blue Skies, May It Be from Lord of the Rings, Kite Flying from the film Les Choristes, Paul McCartney’s Blackbird, and Tonight and Somewhere from West Side Story.
John Anthony Fsadni will lead the choir and Petra Magri Gatt will accompany on the piano. Nicole Vella will host the show.
Tickets for the concert are available from showshappening.com.
Read more about the event here.
Vox Dulcis Chorale performing in a previous edition of the Women's Day Concert.Akustika: Echoes of Life
Akustika is holding a concert on March 7 and 8 at the Sala San Duminku in Valletta under the auspices of the Strummin’ Foundation.
Akustika is a band of passionate musicians who first met through the Strummin’ concerts. They last took the stage together a decade ago. Through raw, acoustic melodies, they will now tell their personal and collective journeys.
The musicians are Janice Debattista, Jean Claude Vancell, Isabel Camilleri, Malcolm Bonnici, Joseph Axiak, Martina Aquilina, Sean Borg, Antonio Olivari, Samuel Aquilina and Luke Vella Clark.
Tickets from https://strummin.mt/events.
Her Story in Song: A Celebration of Women in Music
Opera Unleashed is holding a concert honouring the contributions of female composers throughout history on International Women’s Day.
Her Story in Song: A Celebration of Women in Music will include works by renowned composers such as Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Liza Lehmann, Teresa Caraño, Pauline Viardot and Ethel Smythe.Sopranos Angelica Buontempo, Daphne Camilleri, Kelsey Carabott and Madeleine Gruppetta, and mezzo-soprano Nicole Vassallo will perform. They will be accompanied on the piano by Amy Borg.
The event will be held on March 8 at 7pm at St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Valletta. Bookings against a donation of €10 can be placed here. More information is available on the Facebook event page.
Egle Lape Jazz Quartet
Lithuanian-born and Malta-based Egle Lape (Pranaityte) is performing with other musicians during an event at the Salesian Theatre, in Sliema, on March 8 at 8pm.
Lape is known for lending her distinctive sound to some of the most innovative projects on the island, including Organic Choir Malta.
Together with musicians Warren Galea (guitar), Alan Portelli (bass) and Luke Briffa (drums), she will bring a refined yet soulful performance, weaving through timeless compositions from the American Jazz Songbook alongside a selection of original pieces.
The event is sold out.
MYO Chamber and Ensemble Concert
The Malta Youth Orchestra (MYO) is performing at Robert Samut Hall, in Floriana, on March 9 at 11am.
The MYO Piano Ensemble will be playing works by Handy, Moszkowski and Ewazen, while MYO Flute Ensemble will recite numbers by Reicha, de Boismortier and Mikelanġelo Vella.
The programme also sees the MYO Trumpet Ensemble playing works by Stephenson, Martlatt and Morales.
The musicians will be accompanied by pianists Kristina Mifsud, Annamaria Zammit and Luke Muscat.
Tickets from showshappening.com.
THEATRE
Blanket Ban
Multi-award winning international hit Blanket Ban is being staged on March 7-9, 14-16 at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.
Scripted and performed by Davinia Hamilton and Marta Vella, the 16+ play explores Maltese people’s experiences of abortion healthcare through interviews, verbatim theatre and innovative technology.
Tickets from kreattivita.org.
Read more about the show in this Times of Malta preview.
Davinia Hamilton (left) and Marta Vella wrote and perform in Blanket Ban. Photo: Ali WrightKif tgħallimt insuq
Dù Theatre is staging a Maltese adaptation of US playwright Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel How I Learned to Drive at Theatre Next Door in Magħtab on March 7-9 and 14.
Translated into Maltese by Simone Spiteri and directed by Chiara Hyzler, the play confronts the complexities of taboo relationships, conflicted family dynamics, paedophilia and sexual abuse. It presents these topics in an accessible and sensitive way brought to life with humour and wit.
Kif tgħallimt insuq, certified 15+, is supported by Arts Council Malta, Theatre Next Door, APS Bank and Victim Support Malta. Tickets from fmt.com.mt.
Read also this Times of Malta preview.
Peter Galea and Simone Spiteri in Kif tgħallimt insuq. Photo: Droorizz Photography by Andrew RizzoCollar
TOI TOI, the Manoel’s Learning and Participating programme, is presenting a newly-devised production for schools about choosing the right career path.
Aiming to look at life at different stages from different perspectives, Collar navigates and explores three collars: blue, white and yellow.
Designed for children aged 12-14 years, the show is open to the public on March 8 and 9 at 10am.
Tickets from teatrumanoel.mt.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
The Manoel Theatre is producing Gioachino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia on March 9, 11, 13 and 15.
The local production is directed by Paul Carr, with musical direction by Michael Laus, set design by Adrian Mamo and costume design by Denise Mulholland.
A local and international cast and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra will perform.
The show also features a 12-strong male choir from KorMalta, under the direction of Riccardo Bianchi.
Tickets from teatrumanoel.mt. Read more about this production here.
The cast of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.FILM
Happy Chinese New Year Film Festival
The Happy Chinese New Year Film Festival, organised by China Cultural Centre in Malta, in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv, is coming to an end on March 4 with the film Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms.
Set more than 3,000 years ago, the high fantasy epic recreates the prolonged mythical wars between humans, immortals and monsters.
The screening, in Chinese with English subtitles, starts at 7.30pm. Entrance is free but tickets must be reserved on kreattivita.org.
LUX Audience Award
The LUX Audience Award campaign, organised by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, has returned for this year’s edition.
In collaboration with the European Parliament Office in Malta, Spazju Kreattiv and The Citadel Cinema are showing all five films in Valletta and Gozo during the months of March and April.
Films will be screened with English and Maltese subtitles, and all screenings are open to the public free of charge.
Audiences can rate the films by April with a chance to win a range of exciting prizes, including a trip to the European Parliament to attend the LUX Award Ceremony in April and meet directors and film crews of the nominees.
The screenings in Gozo will take place on five consecutive Sundays which started on March 2, with Intercepted. Animal will follow on March 9, Dahomey on March 16, Julie Keeps Quiet on March 23 and Flow on April 6.
The screenings in Malta will start on March 18 with Intercepted, followed by Animal on March 26, Dahomey on April 3, Julie Keeps Quiet on April 10 and Flow on April 15.
For show times and further information, visit the websites of The Citadel Cinema and Spazju Kreattiv.
DANCE
Divas II: The Dance Show
YADA Dance Company is celebrating its 40th anniversary with Divas II: The Dance Show, at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, on March 7 to 9, 14 to 16.
Directed by Felix Busuttil and featuring over 300 dancers, the show will include some of Malta’s best including past and present YADA dancers, dancers from collaborating schools such as Alison White Dance Studio, Dance Project, Alegria, RIDM Academy, Mandy Dance Academy and others, local choreographers such as Cheryl Lofreda and Luke Brincat and also foreign dancers such as South Africa’s and YADA’s Firedance Rosana Maya and Raffaella Carrà’s choreographer, Stefano Forti.
This spectacle will feature musical hits by an array of international divas including Dolly Parton, Kate Bush, Beyoncé, Freddie Mercury, Raffaella Carrà, RuPaul and Taylor Swift besides local singers Maryrose Mallia, Ira Losco, Doreen Galea, Amber, Glen Vella, Destiny, Sarah Bonnici and others.
The show, suitable for all the family, will be taking place under the patronage of President Myriam Spiteri Debono.
Tickets from showshappening.com
MISCELLANEOUS
Carnival 2025
The official carnival celebrations come to an end on March 4.
The gran finale of the Valletta programme will be held along St Anne Street, Floriana, on March 4 from 6pm onwards. Gozo will also have its last parade in Victoria on March 4 from 5pm onwards.
Other activities will be held throughout the last two days of carnival.
For more information about the Valletta programme, visit festivals.mt/karnival. For a list of carnival celebrations in Gozo, look up the programme here.
The gran finale takes place along St Anne Street, Floriana, on March 4. File photo: Times of MaltaAlmost Legal Alien
Mustafa Algiyadi, a stand-up comedian based in Munich, will bring his eclectic humour to the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta on March 6 at 8pm.
In the show, he hilariously navigates the cultural clashes between his Libyan Arab roots and European life.
Mustafa is the co-founder of Munich’s first weekly and longest-running English Stand-Up Comedy Club. He previewed Almost Legal Alien in London at the Museum of Comedy and has given tour support to comedy legends like Reggie Watts and Todd Barry. Last year, he successfully debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024 with 25 performances.
For more information, visit artsmalta.org. Tickets from showshappening.com.
The Big International Women’s Day Show
Two Black Cats Comedy is presenting another edition of the Big International Women’s Day Show at Tigullio Club, St Julian’s, on March 8 at 8.30pm.
This year’s line-up, hosted by actress Pia Zammit, features an array of performers from around the globe, including comedians Niti Dhingra (UK), Paige Possanza (US) and Crush Velvet (Malta).
There will also be drag by Kiki Valentine and burlesque performances by Undine LaVerve and Stevie Storm (Ireland).
Music will be provided by musician and songwriter Tonella Music and Ghoolie.
Tickets from showshappening.com.