The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is celebrating half a century of music as it marks the 50th anniversary of its foundation today.

The orchestra began life as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra on April 1, 1968, from the ashes of the ‘C-in-C’ orchestra of the British Mediterranean Fleet, which had disbanded months earlier. The UK agreed to pay the musicians’ salaries for two years. 

The C-in-C’s last conductor, Joseph Sammut, remained at the helm until his retirement in 1992. Since then, the orchestra has also been under the direction of Michael Laus, Brian Schembri and the late Joseph Vella. The orchestra became independent of the Manoel Theatre in September 1997, taking on the name National Orchestra of Malta in the process. But it remained a chamber orchestra until 2008, when it was expanded into a full-size symphony orchestra and assumed its present name. 

The orchestra began life as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra on April 1, 1968

The MPO now keeps to a busy schedule averaging over 70 performances a year, including symphonic concerts, opera productions and various concerts of a lighter nature. It also regularly performs abroad, including a tour in Germany and Austria taking place in May. Just last month, the orchestra won two national awards – for best production for young audiences and best production of the year – in the inaugural edition of the Premju għall-Arti organised by Arts Council Malta.

To mark its anniversary, the MPO will be organising a special concert showcasing the works of Leonard Bernstein on the centenary of his birth, conducted by Wayne Marshall and featuring the MPO Chorus together with 10 soloists.

The focal point will be an extensive selection of music from Bernstein’s celebrated musical West Side Story, featuring both instrumental works and vocal numbers, including America and I Feel Pretty. The MPO will also be performing Chichester Psalms, which sets a number of psalms in the original Hebrew to music, as well as the overture and suite from the operetta Candide.

Booking for this concert is open on showshappening.com, but the MPO also wishes to invite all those who have formed part of the orchestra over the past 50 years to join its anniversary celebration.

While the orchestra is personally inviting all those it can, contact details for many have inevitably changed over the years.

Any musician who has performed with the MPO – including when it was known as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra or the National Orchestra – is asked to send an e-mail to events@maltaorchestra.com or call 2124 4473 to receive an invitation to the concert.