The 4th Edition of the International Spring Orchestra Festival supported by the Vodafone Malta Foundation kicks off on Easter Monday with a concert by the Rotterdam Sinfonietta, conducted by Roberto Beltran under the Distinguished Patronage of H.E. Dr. George Abela, President of Malta.

The Festival is happening between Monday 5th April and Friday 9th April at the Manoel Theatre and will see a number of Maltese composers and musicians perform alongside foreign participants. The Festival is also being supported by the Malta Arts Fund.

On Tuesday 6th April at 7.30 pm at the Sala Isouard violinist Emanuel Salvador and pianist Giselle Grima will take the audience on a journey “From Schumann to the 21st Century” with works by Schumann, Liszt, Ysaye and local composer Ruben Zahra.
On Wednesday 7th April the soloists of the Rotterdam Sinfonietta will be giving a concert at 12.30 pm at the Sala Isouard, Teatru Manoel for whoever will be in Valletta and wants to pass by to listen to fascinating chamber repertoire.

On Thursday 8th April at 6.00 pm the Rotterdam Sinfonietta will give a concert at Mater Dei Hospital for patients and their relatives as well as to commemorate the first anniversary of the Malta Heart Foundation. The concert will be held under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Mrs Gonzi.

The festival will close with another orchestral concert on Friday 9th April at 7.30 pm by the Rotterdam Sinfonietta featuring young local piano prodigy Charlene Farrugia as guest soloist, and will be performing Ravel’s colourful Tzigane and Bartok’s astonishing Miraculous Mandarin Suite amongst others.

This year the festival will also include four short concerts “Discovering the Orchestra” aimed at young audiences aged between 8 and 16. These one hour orchestral concerts will take place at the Manoel Theatre and the conductor will be explaining to the audience what happens on stage and the role of each section of the orchestra and will be in a form of a master class.

The aim of this project is to instil awareness of the broad musical palette an orchestra commands through the different colours, sonorities, rhythms and harmonic language. The works performed in each session will be of contrasting nature to bring into perspective the diversity of the musical nuances. Soloists will include Benjamin Chavrier, Marina Meerson and Charlene Farrugia. Sessions will be held in English and schools and individuals are asked to book through the Manoel Theatre Booking Office.

The first two children’s concerts will be held on the 5th April at 4.00 pm and 5.30 pm and the other two on Friday 9th April at 4.00 pm and 5.30 pm. Children within this age bracket or younger are admitted for free while guardians and parents give a €1 donation.
Since the Festival’s birth in 2007 many artists of international standing have stepped on the concert platform such as Mats Lidstrom, Matthias Wollong, Yuko Inoue, Carmine Lauri, Madeleine Mitchell, Brian Schembri, Emanuel Salvador and others.

Tickets are on sale at €10, €15 and €20 and may be booked from the Manoel Theatre box office 21246389 or online www.teatrumanoel.com.mt. The lunchtime chamber concert is open to the public free of charge.

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