Quality and reputation

I refer to the letter Centre Of Musical Excellence by Joe M. Zahra (August 4).

I was pleased to finally get a reply from a representative of the Ministry for Tourism and Culture to my queries on the Mediterranean Music Academy and, at the same time, disappointed that no real answers were forthcoming.

As yet, no one has answered several fundamental questions. Such as the total cost of this whole venture, whether a feasibility study was ever done - and if so, what were the results - and how this will affect the Johann Strauss School of Music and the Bachelor of Music course at the University of Malta.

Moreover, it seems that only Riccardo Muti's reputation is at stake in this issue, and not music education in Malta.

A very basic internet search on Mro Muti's dismissal from La Scala will reveal several interesting details, including the fact that of 800 employees at La Scala, only two voted in his favour. Therefore, the statement that he enjoys an "undisputed" reputation is rather irrelevant.

As for the famous headline quoted in the above mentioned letter, it is indeed sad that a foreign newspaper should give the title as "...and (Mr Muti) opens a music school".

I would have thought that the government was opening an academy for Maltese students.

I will not indulge in a war of words, and will, therefore, leave it at this.

Quality is not created; it is fostered and encouraged, and achieved after years of hard work.

Having a celebrity will not guarantee quality, any more than having Nicole Kidman as an honorary president of an acting school would ensure its success.

Quality is something that has to be engendered from the very initial stages of a process, and unless we identify that need, we will never achieve it.