The full programme of the 2021 edition of the popular Valletta Baroque Festival has been postponed to 2022, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Manoel Theatre, which organises the annual music festival, said it had taken the difficult decision to postpone the extensive programme of the upcoming ninth edition, which features both international and local artists, to 2022.

However, from January 15 to 24, of 2021, an equally high-quality programme featuring local and closer-to-home performers will be held.

“Preparations for the Valletta Baroque Festival start long before, with the programme publicised up to a year in advance,” the Manoel Theatre's artistic director, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, said.

“Due to COVID-19, in April of this year we advised all the participants of the 2021 festival – 36 concerts involving over 300 artists – that we may have to postpone the entire festival to January 2022, which the majority accepted.

"Ergo the 2022 festival programme is ready, but to keep the festival’s spirit alive this year I have devised a scaled-down version comprising Maltese musicians and singers like Gillian Zammit, Michael Laus and Sarah Spiteri, alongside others from Italy to perform on instruments like the viola da gamba and theorbo.”

Apart from these local artists, who are synonymous with the Valletta Baroque ensemble and hence the Valletta Baroque Festival, the 2021 pared-down programme will also feature a chamber version of ‘inspired by baroque’ by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

This performance will showcase works by modern and contemporary composers who were inspired by the baroque idiom such as Ottorino Respighi or Igor Stravinsky. Award-winning harpsichordist Andrea Buccarella will also be performing Bach’s magnificent Goldberg Variations, in the 2021 festival that will be held exclusively within the Manoel Theatre.

“All events in the 2021 festival will take place at the theatre. I know that many will miss being lured from pillar to post as in previous years, exploring the beautiful baroque architectural and artistic heritage of Malta, but it is more sensible and straightforward to stay in one venue in terms of COVID-19 protocols,” Zammit Tabona continued.

“I hope that the 2021 festival will remind us that we must have the courage to continue living our lives as best as we can while taking all the necessary precautions to stay safe. It is also important to support our artists in their hour of need. All artists have felt the negative effects of the pandemic and we cannot let them – or the cultural legacy and accumulated civilisation that they represent – down. For their sake, as well as our own.”

The Valletta Baroque Festival will be held at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, from January 15 to 24, 2021. More information and COVID-19 safety measures may be found online at www.vallettabaroquefestival.mt.