Maltese Singers Shine at Middle East Classical Music Academy

This September, the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC) presented the Middle East Classical Music Academy (MECMA) in Dubai, a twenty-day event of masterclasses with renowned professors from across the globe. In addition, the MECMA featured an extensive daily concert schedule featuring soloists from around the world, including three opera singers from Malta, who performed in concert with the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra on 15th September.

Maltese Singers Shine at Middle East Classical Music Academy

While known mainly for its comprehensive series of masterclasses in four main schools of study — piano, strings, woodwind and brass — the MECMA additionally presented daily concerts throughout the event, inviting noted soloists to perform as well as featuring performances by students of the academy. 

 

For the concert on 15th September, three singers from Malta — soprano Nicola Said, mezzo-soprano Clare Ghigo and tenor Angelo Muscat — presented a programme of well-known arias to the delight of the audience in Dubai. They performed live with the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro Arkady Feldman.

 

All three singers are alumni of the EUFSC’s Malta Classical Music Academy, and have performed extensively both in their native Malta and overseas. 

 

"The orchestra was lovely, very welcoming and the conductor was very nice. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope to come back. When you get invited to do this kind of thing you just jump at it. It’s really amazing — how often do you get the opportunity to be in a place where there are so many musicians and artists in one place. So many conductors and orchestras, I’ve never been to an event like this. It’s amazing to be a part of it so thank you." — Nicola Said, Maltese Soprano, Malta Airport Foundation Ambassador and BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation Scholar

 

The performance took place at the MusicHall of the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, a five star hotel located on the west crescent of Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah. The venue boasts a lavish interior and state-of-the-art technology support, and is perfectly placed to hold and broadcast events such as this. 

 

Noting his pride at having welcomed the three singers to the MECMA, the EUFSC’s President, Konstantin Ishkhanov, said: “It gives me great pleasure to have welcomed such talented young singers from Malta to the Academy’s excellent programme of concerts. As a Malta-based organisation, providing support to Maltese artists is incredibly important to us, and so to have been joined by these three singers in Dubai was a great thing for us and for the event. It was a pleasure to see them perform.” 

 

The MECMA took place within the framework of the InClassica International Music Festival in Dubai (28th August to 26th September), an event of thirty consecutive evening concerts at the Dubai Opera and Coca-Cola Arena which welcomed worldwide Met Opera star, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja , and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra . Works by Maltese composers including Alex Vella Gregory and Albert Garzia were also featured. 

 

The Middle East Classical Music Academy took place 4th to 23rd September 2021. For full details regarding the concert series of the Academy, visit the official website . 

 




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