Muti to preside over Music Academy in Malta

The setting up in Malta of a Mediterranean Music Academy, whose honorary president is world-renowned conductor Riccardo Muti, was launched in Rome yesterday, promising to be "one of the country's most important cultural projects, and a moment of national satisfaction and pride".

Apart from being endorsed by the world-class musician, the academy intends to attract a host of big names in the international music scene to conduct high-profile master classes and other initiatives for local and foreign musicians.

Addressing international journalists in Rome, Mro Muti did not refrain from singing Malta's praises, describing it as the "pulsating heart of the Mediterranean" and a "fantastic" and "fascinating" country, a meeting point of diverse cultures, where musicians from all over the world would now converge.

The academy, to be housed on the site of the historic naval hospital in Bighi, is expected to start operating by October 2008, starting off with a series of master classes by members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. These are the first in a string of four master classes scheduled to be held between October 2008 and June 2009.

In the meantime, Mro Muti, described as an "institution" and an "intellectual", will be in Malta between August 29 and September 5 to conduct a series of musical events to introduce the Music Academy project.

The programme consists of a seminar on Italian Opera, conducted by Mro Muti himself - an unprecedented event being held in the run-up to two concerts he will be giving in Malta at the beginning of September.

The seminar is considered to be a unique opportunity for musicians, conductors, music students and lovers, who would have the possibility to be in touch with one of he greatest musicians of our time. They would be able to ask questions to the indisputable music authority and discuss the process of producing an opera performance.

Moreover, the participants would have the chance to watch the Maestro all'opera (in action) through access to his rehearsals of Donizetti's Don Pasquale, the concert version of which will be performed at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta, on September 2 and the rehearsals of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and Porpora's Salve Regina, which will be performed at St John's Co-Cathedral also in Valletta on September 5.

Participants are expected to benefit immensely from the one-off opportunity to attend Mro Muti's rehearsals - a spectacle in themselves - with his Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, which performed its debut international concert in Malta in 2005.

The Mediterranean Music Academy is the fruit of discussions between Mro Muti, his wife Cristina, president of the Ravenna Festival, and Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech. The contacts started when the conductor visited Malta last October, specifically to attend meetings on the matter. Through the agreement reached, Mro Muti would be consolidating his developing rapport with the island, the minister said.

He was proud to "see a man of such calibre - a force to reckon with in the music world - accepting to be proactively involved in this major initiative and in the drawing up of the plans and logistics". The setting up of the academy formed part of the government's vision to turn Malta into a hub and centre of excellence in various spheres, including culture and the arts, Dr Zammit Dimech said.

The top-scale master classes would offer exposure to Maltese music students who wanted to "go those extra miles, not to say mile", while the academy would also attract foreign students, who followed the "masters" around the world. In fact, it would provide a platform for a specialised cultural tourism niche at two levels: The students coming over to attend the classes and those who would travel for the events - the audience, Dr Zammit Dimech explained.

The academy, which would be placing particular emphasis on the Mediterranean dimension of music, would also serve to put Malta on the international music map, he pointed out, Mro Muti's moves being avidly followed by the international press and not only limited to Italy.

Projected to be a centre of music activity, embodying every aspect of it - from education to research and performance - in a direct, complete and holistic way, the academy's main purpose is to bring together musicians from around the world to collaborate within an environment, which, throughout history, has always been synonymous with bridging cultures and ideas, Dr Zammit Dimech and Mro Muti agreed.

Prior to the press conference at L'Hotel de Russie, in Rome, Mro Muti conducted Verdi's Requiem by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra and Choir at the Quirinale Palace - another Roads of Friendship concert, this time for Lebanon.

Mro Muti is considered one of the world's greatest conductors of Verdi's operas.

His name is also linked with Milan's La Scala, of which he was music director for two decades, and with the most prestigious orchestras. He has conducted the popular televised Vienna New Year's Concert on a number of occasions.