Victoria International Arts Festival
June 11-14
Various venues, Victoria, Gozo

The 17th edition of this festival includes a varied programme that features orchestras, choirs, big bands, chamber ensembles and soloists.

Der Rosenkavalier Encore: Glyndebourne Festival
June 14
St James Cavalier, Valletta

The comic opera Der Rosenkavalier Encore features four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin, her young lover Count Octavian Rofrano, her cousin Baron Ochs and the baron’s prospective fiancée Sophie von Faninal.

At Marschallin’s suggestion, Ochs has Octavian act as his Rose Knight and present the ceremonial silver rose to Sophie. Yet when Octavian meets Sophie, they fall in love on sight. They get rid of Ochs with the help of the Marschallin, who then yields Octavian to the younger woman.

Trumpet recital
June 15
St James Cavalier, Valletta

Organised by St James Cavalier, the Lunchtime Concert Series is held almost every Sunday at 11am in the Music Room. Under the direction of Maria Zahra, this series is intended to showcase performing artists to highlight local talent and contribute towards the enhancement of the contemporary cultural scene.

The Trumpet Recital features Jason Camilleri, Andre Helleur, and Rangel Zapryanov on trumpet, accompanied on the piano by Shirley Helleur.

Classics Under the Stars
June 20
The Inquisitor’s Palace, Girgenti, Siggiewi

The successful Classics Under the Stars with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra returns to the beautiful gardens of the Inquisitor’s Palace. This year’s edition, under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Mrs Muscat, will be conducted by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra principal conductor Brian Schembri with the participation of mezzo soprano Hadar Halevy.

The Gozo Malta Music Week Special
June 21
La Grotta, Xlendi, Gozo

Bo Bruce will be performing the massive hit U by Gareth Amery and other club anthems at La Grotta, Gozo. The event will also feature Malta’s top DJs, all set against the dramatic backdrop of Xlendi valley.

Reflex 80s Party
June 21
Gianpula, limits of Rabat

For those who grew up in the 1980s, singing to Duran Duran’s Wild Boys or Soft Cell’s Tainted Love and dancing to Madonna and Depeche Mode, the Reflex 80s Party recreates the big hair, big lips, big music atmosphere of the decade.

Manon Lescaut: Live from The Royal Opera House
June 24
Eden Cinemas, St Julian’s

This early Puccini masterpiece makes a welcome return to Covent Garden, London after an absence of over 20 years, in a new production by Jonathan Kent under the baton of music director Antonio Pappano.

The exciting Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais sings the title role. A consummate Puccini soprano, Opolais caused a sensation as Madama Butterfly in 2011, and with Manon Lescaut, the bold but impressionable heroine will portray a character different to that which audiences are used to.

Opolais is matched in star power by Jonas Kaufmann as her lover, Des Grieux, and Christopher Maltman as her cynical brother Lescaut. This is a much anticipated new production, and Kent’s vision of a young girl who faces temptation in the big city will surely resonate with today’s audience.

Isle of MTV Malta Special
June 25
The Granaries, Floriana

The Isle of MTV concert is the culmination of a week-long festival of live music. Produced by MTV Networks International, the Isle of MTV presents a world class line-up of artists who perform on the Granaries in Floriana in front of a crowd which usually tops the 50,000 mark. This year, Kiesza will perform her smash hit Hideaway while DJ Hardwell, who was ranked as the world’s top DJ in a survey of 100 DJs by DJ Magazine, will close the Isle of MTV.

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and Malta Youth Orchestra in concert
June 26
St George’s Square, Valletta

Following the success of two consecutive years, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is once again joining forces with the Malta Youth Orchestra for an evening of favourites. American conductor Kelly Kuo directs the 100-strong orchestra playing classics such as George Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite No.1, John Williams’s Superman March and Aaron Copland’s Variations on a Shaker Melody.

Squadron and DonDisko KiNK
June 27
Marrakech, Rabat

After his Malta debut show in 2013, Squadron and DonDisko welcome back KiNK for a live show.

Working with a modest array of gear, KiNK noodles on keyboards, juggles drum loops and pats out the occasional beat by hand. KiNK performs with his machines in the same way that he plays his records: fast, risky, and pushing to the limit.

Malta Arts Festival
July 14 to August 8
Various locations, Valletta

Artists from Croatia, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, South Africa and Russia will join some of the best Maltese artists in a festival with 18 performances and a separate programme of workshops and master classes. These events will be held in some of Malta’s most prestigious venues, such as the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Pjazza Teatru Rjal and Fort St Elmo.

The programme was put together by an artistic committee composed of Mavin Khoo, Ruben Zahra, Toni Attard and Sigmund Mifsud. The team worked under the direction of Malta Council for Culture and the Arts chair Albert Marshall.

The festival will open on a high note with 2Cellos, where two young Croatian cellists take cello playing to a new level in a live performance.

The next day, Kelma Kelma, the Maltese language Facebook phenomenon, will team up with the Big Band Brothers for a night of music and literature at Pjazza Teatru Rjal.

Fort St Elmo will set the scene for Hide and Seek, the new dance production by Ivan Perez. The other main dance event of the programme, a triple bill of duets featuring works by emerging Maltese practitioners and established international artists, will be held at Pjazza Teatru Rjal.

Fecha de Caducidad, a circus from Spain, will bring together moments of poetic beauty, risk and tragically funny circus combined with elements of physical theatre and dance. Ir-Ritorn, a production based on Homer’s Odyssey by Teatru Anon, originally a Żigużajg commission, promises to be a swashbuckling adventure. Both performances are free for children 12 years and under.

Music-lovers will enjoy Ruben Zahra and Windstreken Ensemble, a concert which portrays a unique folk-fusion profile, as well as Up-close, an innovative work by Dutch composer Michel van der Aa where film and live performance reflect each another. Up-Close is a cello concerto duplicated and magnified until it reaches the boundary of video opera, featuring soloist Konstanze van Gutzeit under the direction of Pavel Snajdr with the string orchestra of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Also bridging genres is Il-Kappillan ta’ Malta, a stage adaptation of Nicholas Monsarrat’s famous novel by Immanuel Mifsud. The emerging artists series, featuring musicians Nadine Galea and Luke Baldacchino, will also present an interdisciplinary showcase of music, literature and painting.

The visual arts will also make a strong appearance through the Valletta International Visual Arts Festival, a first pioneering festival for the visual arts in Malta. Organised by St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, the festival will run a few weeks after the Malta Arts Festival and will include events such as a summer curatorial school, exhibitions in Valletta and the third edition of a collective exhibition for young emerging artists.

Also running as part of the festival is a series of films which will be held under the stars at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, curated by Simshar director Rebecca Cremona with a guest appearance by professor Dr Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

Despite the novelties, audiences can also look forward to some firm favourites. Globe will be back with King Lear, with Pjazza Teatru Rjal providing the backdrop to Shakespeare’s tragedy. The trademark closing concert will be held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra playing under the baton of Mro Brian Schembri with Russian cellist Alexander Kniazev.

Malta Jazz Festival
July 17-19
Ta’ Liesse, Valletta

Once again, the Malta Jazz Festival presents a line-up of world-class acts over three days. Set against the magical backdrop of the Grand Harbour, the Malta Jazz Festival will host some of the biggest names in jazz, including Tom Harrell and Brecker Brothers Band Reunion.

Now in its 24th edition, the Malta Jazz Festival has helped raise the profile of jazz locally from a fringe festival to one of the most awaited musical events in Malta’s artistic and cultural calendar. During the festival, contemporary music comes together with a sense of history, setting the backdrop for performances which delight jazz aficionados and lay persons alike.

This, however, is only one of the many intersections running through this year’s festival. Another is that created by the musicians themselves as they cross jazz with other types of music. Mehliana (featuring Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana), for instance – which is set to be one of the festival’s hottest tickets – mix jazz with electronica to create a trance-laden music while the French-born musician Laurent Coq combines Caribbean and Creole influences with modern jazz piano in his Laurent Coq Dialogue Trio.

Other rising stars include vibraphonist Warren Wolf and Kneebody, a band which crosses genres with ease. Local talent will be represented by Paul Abela Quintet featuring Gabriele Comeglio, Joseph Camilleri Trio, Dominic Galea Trio and Francesca Galea, the winner of last year’s Jazz Contest.

Under the direction of artistic director Sandro Zerafa, the Malta Jazz Festival programme also includes a fringe festival featuring master classes and open-air concerts.