Event forms part of the seventh edition of the Malta International Organ Festival

The Discalced Carmelite Fathers are tomorrow inaugurating the newly-refurbished organ at the St Therese of Jesus church, Cospicua, with an organ recital by Elizaveta Lobanova. The event forms  part of the seventh edition of the Malta International Organ Festival.

Lobanova is one of two winners of an organ competition held within the festival last year. She was born in 1998 in St Petersburg, Russia, where she studied organ and piano for 11 years and then harpsichord before continuing her studies in Italy. She is currently preparing for her bachelor’s degree at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Friborg (Switzerland) under the tutorship of Maurizio Croci, an internationally-renowned concert organist.

It had long been the wish of Fr Martin Borg that the organ of St Teresa church be restored to a fine playable condition. On his initiative, this pipe organ has not only been restored but also extended. The project was carried out by Robert Buhagiar of Żabbar.

The original organ, built in the 1950s by the German firm Werner Bosch, had 652 pipes. Unfortunately, its console technology, being of low quality, was its Achilles’ heel throughout its lifetime. A few years ago, it became apparent that a new console was needed. Buhagiar took this opportunity to extend the Bosch organ’s limited tonal resources with the addition of a separate pipe organ which lay redundant at a Methodist church in England. When combined together, the two organs complement each other’s tonal resources – and both are playable through the new console.

The ‘marriage’ of two distinct pipe organs is a complex project involving, among others, painstaking voicing refinement for tonal blending. The St Teresa organ is now among the largest organs in Malta with 1,330 speaking pipes, providing a very wide range of power and colour. Apart from liturgical accompaniment, it is especially suited for Baroque music, but can take on a much wider repertoire.

Buhagiar, a graduate in electrical engineering, trained in organ-building and restoration at the renowned Mascioni firm in Italy. He has restored over 25 pipe organs in a career spanning 22 years, earning a solid reputation for quality attested by foreign experts in this field. In 2003, he became a member of the International Society of Organbuilders (ISO).

This one-hour concert will be held at St Therese of Jesus church, Cospicua, tomorrow at 7.30pm. Entrance is free. For the full programme and more information about the Malta International Organ Festival, visit www.maltainternationalorganfestival.com.