This year started out quite busy with two performances in January; Durante’s Requiem with The Monteverdi Project and Biber’s Requiem with KorMalta.
Durante’s Requiem (photo by Mark Zammit Cordina)Biber’s Requiem (photo by Mark Zammit Cordina)
In March I was then part of the chorus in Rossini’s Requiem, directed by Vivien Hewitt. This was held at the Manoel Theatre and came out to be the last performance just before a number of health restrictions came into place due to COVID-19.
Otello (photo by Mark Zammit Cordina)
When is the next performance? Who knows … in the mean time, here is clip from last December’s concert, A Night of Madrigal & Early Baroque Music with The Monteverdi Project.
The year 2019 started with Missa In Illo Tempore, where together with The Monteverdi Project and Cantar Lontano we performed this Monteverdi mass at Qrendi. In March, the yearly opera appointment was on, where this time I sang as chorus in Così Fan Tutte, directed by Jack Furness. In the same month the European Day of Early Music was celebrated with a concert with The Monteverdi Project at Żejtun.
Così Fan Tutte (photo by Christine Joan Muscat-Azzopardi)
In April I joined KorMalta for the opening number of the Malta Arts Awards 2019, while in November we performed Biber’s Requiem (in F minor) together with VIBE. The last concert of 2019 was A Night of Madrigal & Early Baroque Music where together with The Monteverdi Project we sung a selection of pieces and madrigals from this era.
A Night of Madrigal & Early Baroque Music (photo by Glen Slattery Photography)
I’ve ended the year with KorMalta where we performed the National Anthem that was broadcasted before President Dr. George Vella’s Christmas message.
After a well-deserved summer break, rehearsals are back in full swing for a couple of upcoming projects! This November, on All Souls’ Day, I shall be singing Biber’s Requiem in F minor with KorMalta and VIBE (Valletta International Baroque Ensemble). This will be held at St Dominic’s Church in Valletta. This requiem will then have a repeat performance in January, as part of the Valletta Baroque Festival 2020, with the latter taking place at the Parish Church of St. George in Qormi.
Together with the Monteverdi Project we shall be holding two concerts under the direction of Mro. Marco Mencoboni. Starting with the one on the 14th of December, we will be performing a number of madrigals and pieces from the late Renaissance and early Baroque period. The music is from the likes of Girolamo Frescobaldi, Gesualdo Caro, Giovanni De Macque, Alessandro Grandi and Orlando di Lasso amongst others. In mid-January, we shall then perform Durante’s Requiem in C minor with Cantar Lontano & VIBE. This will also be part of the Valletta Baroque Festival 2020 and will be held at the Church of St. Philip of Agira in Ħaż-Żebbuġ.
A Monteverdi Christmas Concert (photo by Stefan Kolgen)
I’ve started the year singing a selection of pieces from Monteverdi’s Missa in Illo Tempore SV205 together with The Monteverdi Project and Cantar Lontano, under the direction of Mro. Marco Mencoboni. This concert was held at the Parish Church of the Assumption in Qrendi and was part of the Valletta International Baroque Festival 2019.
Photo by Cantar Lontano
In March I was part of the chorus in Così Fan Tutte, directed by Jack Furness. We concluded the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy at the Manoel Theatre, after Le Nozze Di Figaro in 2017 and Don Giovanni last year.
Photo by Christine Joan Muscat-Azzopardi
In the same month, together with The Monteverdi Project, we held a live-streamed concert at St. Gregory’s Church in Żejtun celebrating the European Day of Early Music.
My next project is with KorMalta, and we shall be singing the opening number in the Malta Arts Awards ceremony to be held at the Manoel Theatre.
What a year this has been! I’ve started off the year with the honor of singing with Dame Emma Kirkby in the REMA Early Music Award Ceremony together with VIBE. In the same month I then sang in Monteverdi’s Vespers 1610 with VIBE and The Monteverdi Project vocal ensemble. In February I hopped to something quite different, singing Rockquiem with the MPO Chorus and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. March brought with it Don Giovanni, an opera directed by Jack Furness, in which I was part of the chorus, and La Divina Commedia, in which I sang together with the A Cappella Choir.
In April I was a pit singer in the Mamma Mia! musical and in May I’ve sung a piece from Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo in a Monteverdi Project concert titled Musical Adventures in Seconda Prattica. Aħna Refuġjati, directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi, came next in August; a Maltese opera held at the Granaries in Floriana.
(1) REMA Early Music Award Ceremony (2) Rockquiem (3) Don Giovanni (4) Mamma Mia! (5) Musical Adventures in Seconda Prattica (6) Aħna Refuġjati (7) Rockestra 2018 (8) Belt il-Bniedem: Is-Swar
In September I then took part in Rockestra 2018 with Animae Gospel Choir. November brought with it another Maltese opera, Belt il-Bniedem: Is-Swar, directed by Michael Moxham. I’ve then ended the year with another Monteverdi Project concert titled A Monteverdi Christmas.
While I continued to study classical voice at the Malta School of Music, and got my Grade 8, I must say that with 11 events in quite a musically diverse year, I met so many people from different walks of life, all sharing one common passion, music!
