The Three Palaces Festival continues tonight with Maltese violinist Carmine Lauri.

A world-renowned virtuoso, Lauri started playing the violin at the age of four and at the age of 17 was awarded the ABRSM scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Maurice Hasson.

He has performed worldwide as a soloist, including in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and other heads of state. He leads various international orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra of which he is the co-leader. He is also the concertmaster of the Oxford Philharmonic and the guest leader of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Lauri was elected an Associate (ARAM) and Fellow (FRAM) of the Royal Academy of Music and currently plays a violin made in 1780 by Nicholas Lupot. He is a member of the National Order of Merit – MOM and is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Arts 2015.

Tonight’s programme includes pieces by Fauré, Gershwin, Ravel, Debussy and Saint-Saëns.

Tomorrow sees the Wallace Collection taking to the stage with a collection of pieces by Bernstein, Hans Werner Henze, Michael Tilson Thomas, Previn and Jim Parker.

The Wallace Collection is a flexible brass interest group set up in 1986 by Scottish trumpeter John Wallace. He is accompanied in Malta by Fergus Kerr, John Miller, Rui Pedro de Oliveira Alves and Anthony George. Since its inception, the Wallace Collection has recorded over 30 solo and ensemble CDs and undertaken a wide variety of performance tours and innovative musical projects.

John Wallace will also be holding a free master class on Sunday at the Pandora Hall in Żejtun. Wallace grew up in the brass band tradition in Scotland. After periods with the Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras as assistant principal, he went on to become principal trumpet with the Philharmonic.

During his first career as a trumpet player, Wallace played concertos with many of the world’s leading conductors including Simon Rattle, Andrew Davis and Riccardo Muti and premiered new works by Malcolm Arnold, Peter Maxwell Davies, James Macmillan, HK Gruber and Dominic Muldeowny among many others.

He was awarded the OBE in 1995 in recognition of his distinguished services to music and the CBE in 2011 for services to dance, music and drama in Scotland.

 

■ Both concerts are taking place at 8pm at the Throne Room of the Grandmaster’s Palace in Valletta. For tickets, visit booking.teatrumanoel.com.mt. While the master class tomorrow morning is free, booking is essential. Send an e-mail to ruben.balzan@artscouncilmalta.org. Watch this space throughout the festival for information on the other concerts.

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