The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra will be showcasing the music of Leonard Bernstein on Saturday, April 7, in a concert which will mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation.

An extensive selection of music from Bernstein’s celebrated musical West Side Story, featuring both instrumental works and vocal numbers – including the hugely popular America and I Feel Pretty – will be the highlight of the concert, which will also feature the American composer’s sacred work Chichester Psalms and the overture and suite from his operetta Candide.

The concert, which will be held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre at 8pm, will be conducted by Wayne Marshall, one of the world’s most renowned interpreters of Bernstein’s works. The MPO will be joined by its own MPO Chorus, which was established last year, and no less than 10 soloists, including countertenor David Allsopp.

The MPO began life as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra on 1 April, 1968, from the ashes of the “C-in-C” orchestra of the British Mediterranean Fleet, which had disbanded months earlier. The C-in-C’s last conductor, Joseph Sammut, remained at the helm until his retirement in 1992. Since then, the orchestra has also been under the direction of Michael Laus, Brian Schembri, John Galea and the late Joseph Vella.

The orchestra became independent of the Manoel in September 1997, taking on the name National Orchestra of Malta in the process. But it remained a chamber orchestra until 2008, when it was expanded into a full-size symphony orchestra and assumed its present name.

The MPO now keeps to a busy schedule averaging over 70 performances a year, including symphonic concerts, opera productions and various concerts of a lighter nature. It also regularly performs abroad, including a tour in Germany and Austria taking place in May. Just last month, the orchestra won two national awards – for best production for young audiences and best production of the year – in the inaugural edition of the Premju għall-Arti organised by Arts Council Malta.

Tickets for this concert – which also marks the centenary of Bernstein’s birth – can be purchased from showshappening.com or directly from the MCC’s box office.