Renowned Austrian pianist Christoph Traxler and Maltese clarinettist Godfrey Mifsud will be performing at the national theatre in a joint event organised by the Manoel Theatre and the Austrian Embassy.
The programme includes music by Szalowski, Brahms, Von Weber and Schumann.
Traxler is one of the most versatile Austrian artists. He gave his orchestral debut with Schumann’s A minor concerto in 2000 and moved to Vienna to study with Heinz Medjimorec and Stefan Arnold at the Vienna University of music and performing arts, where he also received his grand diploma in 2012 with highest honours.
Traxler is the winner of both the Boesendorfer and the Herbert von Karajan scholarship as well as numerous national and international competitions including the International Johannes Brahms chamber music competition 2000, International chamber music festival Austria 2001 and 2003, as well as the Lions European piano competition Bucharest 2007 and the Brucknerbund competition for piano trio 2009.
In 2010 the Vienna Beethoven society chose him for a scholarship for one year. Traxler is also holding a masterclass for advanced piano students on the eve of the recital.
Mifsud is considered one of Malta’s most refined solo and chamber musicians. After winning various local competitions, he made his public debut with the Malta National Orchestra in 1997.
In 1999 he was featured as a young artist at the International ClarinetFest held in Ostend, Belgium and performed as a guest artist at the Aberystwyth Musicfest.
Since then, Mifsud has performed as soloist with various orchestras including Orchestre Camerata Con Cor(d)e, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Berne Youth Symphony Orchestra and Christchurch Wind Orchestra, in various countries including the US, the UK, Italy, France, Tunis, Germany, Finland, Portugal, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
Mifsud currently holds the post of clarinet tutor at the Johann Strauss School of Music in Valletta and is a tutor in Performance Studies at the University of Malta.
The full programme includes Antoni Szalowski’s Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano, Johannes Brahms’s Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat Major, Carl Maria Von Weber’s Grand Duo Concertant and Robert Schumann’s Drei Fantasiestücke for clarinet and piano.
The recital will take place on Tuesday at 8pm at the Manoel Theatre.
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