The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra plans to expose the public to the joys of classical music with its new outreach strategy that includes concerts and recognition of young talent.

A number of concerts and programmes will be taking place over the next year as part of this strategy, announced by Culture Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco.

In November, the orchestra will be holding the first in a series of music education programmes for children at Robert Samut Hall, Floriana.

Another element is to take the orchestra out to the community rather than expect the community to attend concerts in established venues. This will be done through outreach concerts held in various towns and villages once every two months. The repertoire will be presented in an appealing way to help people "appreciate the beauty of the world of classical music".

The orchestra, under the direction of Christopher Muscat, will be performing three concerts at 7.30 p.m. on June 16-18 at St Francis of Assisi church, Qawra, Our Lady of Victories church, Senglea, and St Helena parish church, Birkirkara, respectively.

Family-oriented concerts are also part of the strategy, aimed at attracting people of all ages to classical music. The first will be held on July 28 at Girgenti Palace. The orchestra will be performing Classics Under The Stars. Works scheduled to be performed during the 2010-2011 season include Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.

Other initiatives include bi-annual debutants' concerts and new composers' concerts, offering the opportunity to budding young soloists to perform with the orchestra and for young composers to experience one of their own compositions performed in public for the first time.

The orchestra will be collaborating with the University of Malta to hold a number of sessions for student performers and conductors as well as musicians' exchange programmes.