Brian Schembri, who was recently appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, has a number of prestigious international engagements lined up for this year.
On April 3, he will be conducting the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in a concert with Italian soprano Lucia Aliberti at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, featuring overtures and intermezzi by Verdi, Puccini, Catalani, Donizetti, Bellini and Lehar and arias by the same composers.
On June 25, Mro Schembri will conduct the military band of the French Marines in a charity concert at Les Invalides in Paris, while just over a month later, on July 26, he will conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Kings Lynn Festival being held in the Corn Exchange Hall, Kings Lynn in Norfolk, England.
The programme there will feature Elgar’s sublime Cello Concerto, with soloist Michael Petrov, and which Mro Schembri will again conduct with the Malta Philharmonic – probably for the first time in Malta – this time with Alexander Kniazev as soloist, in a concert at the Mediterranean Conference Centre on August 2. It will also feature an overture by Maltese composer Karl Fiorini and Stravinsky’s Petrouchka suite.
Another international engagement for Brian Schembri this year is an all-Beethoven programme at the Biel Theatre, Switzerland, where he will conduct the Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra on November 19.
Mro Schembri’s local schedule this year will also be busy. It will include the closing concert of the International Spring Festival at the Manoel Theatre on April 26, with the European Union Chamber Orchestra and pianist Lucia Micallef, the MPO, again at the Manoel, where the programme will include Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with soloist Godfrey Mifsud; the annual concert at the Girgenti Palace gardens on June 20; the opening concert of the season at the Manoel Theatre on October 3 and another concert there on November 26, both with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.