The Bice Mizzi Vassallo music competition saw its revival in 2023 with its 14th edition being held last October.

The prize winners Daphne Delicata and Lucas Garcia Conrad have just concluded their participation at workshops and given solo performances in international festivals in Warsaw and Emilia-Romagna respectively, after having been awarded the prize through the Music organising committee for the National Council of Women.

Delicata was awarded first prize for the piano section of the 14th edition of the BMV Music Competition in October 2023 and attended a course in Warsaw under the tutorship of Maria Gabryś-Heyke, while Garcia Conrad (viola) was awarded first prize for the string section which entitled him to attend a course in August, in Atri, Italy under the tutorship of Antonio Farulli.

Event programme 2

Grażyna Barszczewska, Karol Stępkowski, Daphne Delicata, Maria Gabryś-Heyke at the Museum Cypriana Norwida.

Winners’ concert: 3rd edition of the International Competition

Lucas with Mro Antonello Farulli

Delicata was also invited to participate in a concert held at the Powsin Botanic Garden in Warsaw as part of the 28th International Piano Festival ‘Musical Floralia’ 2024 thanks to endorsement by Gabryś-Heyke and Ewa Slawinska who coorganised with Towarzystwo im. Fryderyka Chopina (Chopin Institute). On this occasion, Delicata performed works by Mozart, Bach, Haydn and various works by Chopin.

Moreover Delicata participated in another concert at the Debinki Museum, organised by the artistic directors Gabryś-Heyke and Karol Stępkowski.

Delicata also attended tutorials in Warsaw under the tutorship of Karol Radziwonowicz, Przemysław Lechowski and Monika Quinn (music physiology).

Garcia Conrad attended a prestigious programme of classes with violist and pedagogue Farulli (Royal College of Music (London), Reina Sofia (Madrid), Conservatorio di Bologna (Italy), with whom he worked on a number of works for viola. His programme and stay in Atri was organised thanks to Mirco Besutti, president of the Fondazione Scuola di Musica Carlo e Guglielmo Andreoli.

Lucas Garcia Conrad

This took place as part of the 25th International Festival “Duchi d’Acquaviva” 2024.

Lucas was selected as one of the three prizewinners in the string section and as his prize, he performed Bruch’s Romanze in F major for viola and orchestra with the Orchestra Sinfonica Dulchi d’Acquaviva at the Teatro Comunale in Atri under the direction of Nataliya Gonchak on August 18. That evening he was awarded a Winner Diploma by the international jury of the festival.

He also had the opportunity to perform in another concert for the most outstanding students participating in the masterclasses, and on this occasion performed Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata.

The competition and courses that Delicata and Garcia Conrad attended were made possible thanks to the sponsors of the events related to this project, namely The Alfred Mizzi Foundation and NSTF-Student Travel Foundation.

The competition is held biannually and is organised by the music organising committee of the National Council of Women, Malta.

The winners will be performing in a concert at Sala Isouard, Manoel Theatre on December 13.