In a few months, the Mediterranean island of Malta will be transformed into a global hub of classical music.
The localities of Valleta, Floriana, and Rabat are preparing to play host to the inaugural edition of the Malta Classical Music Academy (MCMA) between the 17th of April and 11th of May, while simultaneously acting as the landing ground for the 10th edition of the globally-renowned InClassica Malta International Music Festival, both of which are being organised by the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC).
This new initiative will see the multitude of masterclasses and other educational activities that used to be associated with InClassica being consolidated into one comprehensive project, marking an exciting opportunity for young musicians the world over to further their musical skills in the sunny, stimulating environment that Malta is known for.
A series of three, one-week courses will be held in all, which will be dealing with four different musical schools, namely that of piano, strings, wind, and voice studies. The courses will each incorporate a number of masterclasses and lectures that will be headed by an international roster of world-class professors who will be arriving from countries like Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain, USA, Canada, France, Russia, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Armenia, Bulgaria, South Korea, UK, Ukraine, Brazil, Monaco, Israel, and Hungary, for the specific purpose of delivering these classes.
The professors will include amongst them Japan’s own famed pianist Akiko Ebi, as well as the Academy’s Artistic Directors of piano and strings respectively, Giuliano Mazzoccante and Davide Alogna, and other renowned figures like Zahar Bron, Ana Chumachenco, Pavel Gililov, Bernd Goetzke, Dmitri Alexeev, Boris Kuschnir, and Peter Donohoe, to name a few.
Akiko Ebi, pianist, professor
Ebi was ecstatic about having been invited to teach at the Academy, exclaiming that “I have never been to Malta, so it will be my very first time, and I’m excited because everything will be a new experience. It’s such a wonderful event, and I would really like to express my sincere admiration of Konstantin Ishkhanov and the European Foundation for Support of Culture. They are creating tremendous opportunities for students”.
Attendees will be presented with the unique opportunity of experiencing the tutelage of these titans of classical music, and the chance to enter into discussion with them and gain a glimpse into the minds of some of our era’s leading classical musicians.
Alogna urged music students to take advantage of this occasion, promising that “students who enrol at the Malta International Classical Music Academy will have the opportunity to be coached by a selection of the best professors practicing today, in a venue perfectly suited to support cultural and musical growth”.
Students shall also be able to benefit from special access to the dozens of evening concerts being put up as part of InClassica itself, which will be headlined by two living legends of the piano world, Martha Argerich and Grigory Sokolov, as well as the award-winning UK violinist Daniel Hope, vaulted Handel-singer Danielle de Niese, and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra’s clarinet leader, Andreas Ottensamer, among many others.
The European Foundation for Support of Culture will also be organising a number of daytime concerts over the course of the InClassica’s 25 days, which will be featuring the performances of a number of preeminent international musicians including Antonio Tinelli (clarinet), Costanza Principe (piano), Alena Baeva (violin), Sergei Dogadin (violin), Dimitri Illarionov (classical guitar), David Aaron Carpenter (viola), and many others.
Most notably, the Academy’s most accomplished students will even be provided with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand on stage alongside these top musicians and perform with them, presenting works by leading European composers in collaboration with a multitude of renowned international symphony and chamber orchestras.
A select number of MCMA attendees will also have the special distinction of assisting some of the best performers and professors in the classical world today, like Daniel Hope, Maxim Vengerov, and Rudolf Buchbinder, in their presentation of a special series of masterclasses. Students will be asked to submit a recording of themselves performing, and the professors themselves will then invite the very best to take on the role of assistants as they present the masterclasses.
Konstantin Ishkhanov, President EUFSC
“One of the EUFSC’s core tenets is to promote and support the continued development of classical music. The Malta Classical Music Academy has been designed from the ground up with the express intention of furthering the growth of young musicians all over the world, marking a unique for students to embark on a musical journey that will enable them to push their abilities to the next level” - Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC.
The Academy shall also mark the inauguration of yet another new initiative by the EUFSC, where some of the world’s youngest and most talented classical musicians shall be invited to perform in a series of concerts entitled ‘Young Classical Music Stars. Virtuosos as young as 6 years old will be displaying their skills in these daytime concerts, with participants including figures like Russian pianist Elisey Mysin, Chinese violinist Paloma So, and Slovakian violinist Teo Gertler.
As Mazzoccante noted, “I am convinced that our young musicians in attendance will enjoy an unforgettable experience, and one that they will carry in their memory for a lifetime”.
MCMA students who successfully complete the course will receive an honorary diploma of completion in recognition.
Registrations for the Academy are currently open and can be accessed on the official MCMA website, where one can also discover more information about the Academy.
By Julian Francalanza
