Malta International Organ Festival 2016
19 November till 9 December 2016
Undoubtedly the largest event during this time of the year for the lovers of art and classical music is the Malta International Organ Festival, which this year will take place from 19th November till 9th December. A festival surely not to be missed with 17 concerts by world renowned musicians in the Cathedrals, Basilicas and Churches across the Maltese Islands.
The festival brings together world renowned, top-notch musicians with some of the greatest music written for the organ, performed in chapels, churches, basilicas and cathedrals that showcase some of the Maltese Islands’ most stunning architectural and artistic heritage.
Cultural Heritage is often associated very narrowly with museums and archaeological sites, but Malta possesses a much more extensive patrimony of heritage assets including music and our beloved Churches and Cathedrals.
It was with the arrival of the knights of St John and the lifting of the Great Siege of 1565, that the building of modern Malta commenced, and the archipelago’s landscape was transformed beyond configurations that had changed very little since prehistoric times. Fortifications, wonderful palaces and a network of small cities, towns and villages emerged, where at the heart of each was a church.
These small cities, towns and villages today form the historic centre of our archipelago’s urban landscape, and many are also the venues for the Malta International Organ Festival. The arts have always played a large role in Maltese culture, and it is everyone’s aim that the high calibre programme that has been put together should serve as an endorsement to the event’s international status , becoming now a regular part of the Malta cultural calendar.
The programme kicks off with a performance by the world renowned BBC Proms organist and conductor Wayne Marshall on the organ, together with Malta’s outstanding baritone Joseph Lia.
