The sixth edition of the Valletta International Baroque Festival will run from today to January 27 – two weeks of music spread over 26 events in 14 locations.

Produced and managed by the Manoel Theatre, this year’s festival will feature a number of internationally-acclaimed stars from the baroque music world. It will also venture outside the capital to other grand locations such as the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Aula Capitulare in Mdina, Verdala Palace in the limits of Rabat and the Malta Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa.

Shunske SatoShunske Sato

The festival kicks off at the Manoel today with Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Shunske Sato on the violin will share the limelight with the orchestra Concerto Köln, who will stage another concert tomorrow, titled Bach and Italy, at the same venue at 7.30pm.

Also tomorrow, Les Contre-Sujets will perform excerpts from German celebrity composers at the National Library, Valletta, at noon. Later on, there will be a baroque treasure hunt around the Manoel Theatre for all the family between 3 and 6pm.

Harpsichord legend Mahan Esfahani will return to delight with his music, together with La Folia Barockorchester, at the Manoel Theatre on January 18, while The Ghislieri Choir and Consort will be performing two concerts, one at St John’s Co-Cathedral on Monday and another one at the Mdina Cathedral on January 19.

Other international guests performing during the festival include Concerto Romano, Scholars and Gentlemen, Collegium Orpheus, Het Collectief and the Abchordis Ensemble.

Markus HoffmanMarkus Hoffman

As regards local participation, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Bianchi, will perform music by Grieg, Tansman, Gravina and Villa-Lobos at the Manoel Theatre on January 17.

Music from the archives of the Cathedral Museum, Mdina, will be performed by the Valletta International Baroque Ensemble (VIBE) at the Mdina Cathedral on January 21.

VIBE will also stage the concert Monteverdi Vespers at St Catherine’s church, Żejtun, under the direction of Marco Mencoboni, on January 25.

Messa a Due Cori, composed by Maltese priest Benigno Zerafa, will be performed by the Collegium Orpheus and Jean-Marc Labylle at the Mdina Cathedral – where Zerafa served as maestro di cappella between 1744 and 1786 – on January 23.

And baroque will meet jazz in a concert by guitarist Simon Schembri and Sandro Zerafa and Friends at the Malta Maritime Museum on January 27.

For more details and to book, visit www.vallettabaroquefestival.com.mt or www.teatrumanoel.com.mt.

Les Contre-SujetsLes Contre-Sujets

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