This week, 15-year-old Ella Richardson, a rising star on the UK classical music scene, will perform in a concert at the Grand Excelsior Hotel with the Central Academy of Arts Orchestra as part of the International Violin Making Competition, directed by maestro Volodymyr Baran.

After successfully competing in the academy’s International Music Competition in July last year and leading the Malta Youth Orchestra in a performance as part of Notte Bianca, the upcoming concert marks Ella Richardson’s return to Malta.

A student of the prestigious Purcell School in Hertfordshire, England, Ella is also a member of the highly-selective National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, with whom she will be playing extensively across the UK in 2020 as part of the orchestra’s three nationwide tours.

Ella is excited to perform with the academy’s orchestra. She explains “it’s such an amazing opportunity to play solo with an orchestra, and in Malta, which I consider to be my second home. I’m very grateful to Volodymyr for giving me the chance to perform at this wonderful event”.

In addition to his work with the academy, maestro Baran has taught and performed across Europe, Asia and North America, won several international music competitions and held the post of Assistant Concertmaster of the Zurich Symphony Orchestra for four years. I caught up with him to find out more about the concert and the work of his academy.

Maestro Baran, congratulations on the continued success of the Central Academy of Arts’ annual Violin Making Competition. Can you provide some background to the concert and to Ella’s involvement?

I’m very pleased that Ella has agreed to perform for this concert. She was a winner in the second  category of the international music competition 2019 and is a very fine young violinist. In fact, she will also be giving a masterclass the day before the performance.

This is the first time that we’re doing this in Malta, because for past competitions the prizes included performances at the California State University of Los Angeles, as well as at the Central Conservatory of Music in China. This time what is special is that we are bringing together the international music, composition and violin making competitions in a single event.

This means that musicians can come to Malta without their own instruments, instead performing using the luthier instruments made specifically for the competition, or those that we arrange to have brought to Malta as reference models. These in­struments are typically made by companies such as Stradivari, Maggini and Lupot. Winning entries from the composition competition will also be performed as part of this event.

I am so excited to perform with the Central Academy of Arts… it’s such an amazing opportunity to play solo with an orchestra

Can you tell me more about the luthier tradition?

There are several major schools of violin making in Europe. Of the three that immediately spring to mind, I would mention Cremona in Italy, Mittenwald in Germany and Poznań in Poland. The International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Making Competition is based in Poznań and is, in fact, the oldest such competition in the world, and this year the former president of the Wieniawski competition will be joining us in Malta as a judge. However, it is difficult to point to certain countries consistently, as over the years we have had winners from China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and the US, and we try to encourage the sharing of knowledge through workshops where discussions about topics such as wood structure, varnish and scrolls can take place.

What are the origins of the Central Academy of Arts?

I originally started the company in 2010 with just the international music competition, be­fore branching out into other disciplines now incorporated into the academy. The fact is that there are a lot of talented young students here in Malta, but un­fortunately they are sometimes lacking in motivation. I created the academy, therefore, to help challenge and inspire these young players, and in a larger sense help bring people to Malta, not only for the weather and the historical sites, but also for the arts.

Central Academy of Arts director Volodymyr Baran

You’ve identified a lack of motivation sometimes present amongst students, can you elaborate on this a little more?

Well it’s not necessarily that the students are lazy, because, after all, everyone can be that way at times, but I think the consumer technology available to us now can be a problem, as it competes ‒ often very successfully ‒ for our attention. It isn’t a Maltese problem, it’s a human problem. We’re living too quickly.

The fact is that learning a skill such as playing or making a musical instrument requires time and patience, and the technologies that now exist often make it more difficult for people to focus their attention properly in order to achieve the desired proficiency in disciplines such as these. New technologies can provide convenience and shortcuts to help us with our everyday lives, but as I tell my students, when it comes to learning an instrument there are no shortcuts.

I mentioned earlier that Ella will be giving a masterclass the day before the concert. This is something I am very pleased about and something that I hope will serve as a real inspiration for the young players here in Malta. Seeing someone their own age not only performing, but also providing advice and knowledge to other players is something they can aspire to.

What would you say to people who might argue that music is an art form, a way of communicating emotions and ideas, and that to introduce the element of competition to that is somehow in conflict with these principles?

Music is a language, and as in spoken and written language there are conventions that gene­rally have to be adhered to; for example, articulating correctly and pronouncing words in the correct way, music is no different. The purpose of competition, in my opinion, is to polish these skills and motivate students to work harder and achieve more. Someone who doesn’t know how to use language properly will find it more difficult to write poetry, for example, and I think the same is true for music.

What are the academy’s plans for 2020?

We will have another competition in the summer, and I’m trying to secure more prizes, such as instruments and bows. Most competitions around the world give money as prizes, but I would like to mention that CAA has no sponsors. We did once very kindly receive €500 in sponsorship from an insurance company based here in Malta, but that only happened once. I would certainly appreciate support from Malta’s cultural institutions, but my main focus is the competitions and helping to develop the classical music scene here in any way I can. I’m very much looking forward to this week’s concert, and I hope the public will support and enjoy it.

Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?

We are all friends and colleagues. We are all human beings. My aim is to help motivate and learn from each other, and prove that really there are no borders, because music is a very international language and everyone can understand it.

Ella Richardson will perform with the Central Academy of Arts Orchestra in a free concert at the Grand Excelsior Hotel on Tuesday, January 21 at 7.30pm. To find out more, visit www.central-academy.com.