Fanfare falls flat on Muti academy

Plans for a highly publicised music academy, endorsed by world-renowned Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, have faltered, yet two politicians connected to the project are not in accordance as to why it fizzled out.

The Mediterranean Music Academy was meant to be up and running by October 2008 but it never materialised. Its aim had been for Malta to be a hub of musical excellence in the Mediterranean - and having a person of the calibre of Mro Muti on board was considered a major bonus to achieve its objectives.

But not only do the two politicians, under whom the proposed academy has fallen, now have different ideas on the availability of funding but also as regards its source.

The Culture Ministry has said the government, in the previous legislature, had been planning to finance it through EU structural funds, which were never granted.

It said the initiative was launched by the then Tourism and Culture Ministry in July 2007 while it was still awaiting EU funding to sustain it.

But the former Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech, who spearheaded the academy and has since been replaced by Dolores Cristina, said funding had been sought from the product development directorate of the Malta Tourism Authority, which had a budget to sponsor cultural events.

"At the time, the funding was available, but I do understand that priorities could have changed and money may need to be poured into marketing due to the prevailing situation," Dr Zammit Dimech said.

Asked why the academy had fallen by the wayside, he said he was not aware of the reasons but "whatever they are, it is unfortunate that Malta has lost such a great opportunity to place itself on the international art scene of repute".

Having Mro Muti as the honorary president could not be quantified only in monetary terms, he said.

At the time, it had been described as "one of the country's most important cultural projects, and a moment of national satisfaction and pride".

The academy was meant to attract a host of big names in the international music scene to conduct high-profile master classes and see foreign musicians converge on the island, providing a platform for a specialised cultural tourism niche.

Back in the summer of 2007, the academy's location had already been identified on the site of the naval hospital in Bighi and was meant to kick off with a series of master classes by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, supposedly the first in a string scheduled between October 2008 and June 2009.

Mro Muti had held the first seminar at the Mediterranean Conference Centre about a month after the launch in Rome. The workshops were intended as a soft opening of the academy to get the ball rolling.

In fact, they had attracted foreign musicians, allowing members of the national orchestra to experience the maestro at work.

Mario Frendo, the artistic director entrusted with the project, had agreed to continue working on it, having established a good relationship with the Italians.

But his last meeting with Mro Muti was held at the end of 2007, following which the general election had caused things to slow down and come to a standstill.

Since then, he met the Culture Ministry once on the subject.

The academy would have required a major investment both from the financial and human resources point of view, he said.

"Speaking from the musical and artistic perspective, it is a pity as it was a good thing for Malta. But it is not for me to decide whether it should be considered a priority now. It was great that Mro Muti had accepted, but I would not know whether all is lost."

And maybe all is not quite lost yet. The Culture Ministry said it is "working on setting up a group to present proposals on the way forward for the academy"- a year after it was meant to be operating.

The Ministry said it has sent two letters to Mro Muti to discuss the way forward. But, to date, it has not received any communication from his end.

The conductor, whose name is linked with Milan's La Scala, where he was music director for two decades, and with the most prestigious orchestras, had expressed his strong belief in the academy, claiming it could "bear fruit".