Alessia Bonnici, a 17-year-old pianist on the autism spectrum will be performing at the Access Tampere Next Generation Culture Festival 2023 in Finland to be held between Thursday and Saturday.
She will also be presenting Ale’s Project, her own music video which she had produced with local artists and practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic, back in 2021.
Bonnici is passionate about music and the arts, a medium that has offered her an alternative yet powerful way of expression that allows her to experience a way of being in the world that yields countless joys and satisfactions. She says music has provided her with a sense of freedom; that it has increased her confidence to interact with others and provided added meaning to her life. Music is not merely a part of her world, it has transformed her life in an incredible way.
Bonnici is a student at the Malta School of Music, currently reading for a Diploma in Piano. She is also following a hybrid A-level course with Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London. Furthermore, she attends Villabianca Centre for Music & the Arts, a project by The Malta Trust Foundation. At Villabianca, Alessia is provided with additional theoretical support. During her first eight years at the Malta School of Music, Bonnici studied with pianist and music therapist Rosetta Debattista, who is now the creative consultant of Villabianca. In 2021, she started being taught repertoire by another celebrated pianist, Gabi Sultana, who is now exposing her to an array of new exciting genres that suit her musical character.
Given her ever-growing musical passion, the festival in Finland will provide Bonnici a dual opportunity at a pivotal stage of her musical career. Firstly, it will provide her the chance to showcase her musical talent among international professionals interested in the field of diverse musical ability. These will be able witness the level of playing she has achieved notwithstanding her language and academic challenges.
The festival will provide Bonnici the chance to showcase her musical talent among international professionals
Furthermore, she will also be able to share, alongside her mother Cynthia, and tutor Rosetta Debattista, the remarkable work done on Ale’s Project. The project will serve as encouragement to other professional artists, allowing them to make use of novel and creative ways of expression.
Prior to her departure to Finland yesterday, Bonnici, accompanied by her mother and tutor, paid a courtesy visit to President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, chair of the Malta Trust Foundation, to discuss Bonnici’s participation at the festival, among others. Also in attendance was Kenneth Vella, Malta’s Ambassador to Finland and Estonia, who expressed his appreciation for this initiative, adding that there already exists a strong collaboration with Tampere in the sectors of education and sports. This festival, he remarked, will create another avenue of opportunity to start making cultural connections with this vibrant city.
Bonnici’s participation in Access Tampere Next Generation Culture Festival 2023 is being supported by the Malta Arts Council and The Malta Trust Foundation. Visit https://alessiabonnici.com/ to find out more about Bonnici and to watch her perform.