At 29 years of age, composer and violinist Mariella Cassar is probably one of the youngest people studying for a Ph.D in her field. She is also the only female in Malta, not to mention Gozo, where she is from.
With an M. Phil already under her belt (for which she analysed the music of Anton Nani), she has now been accepted at Dartington College of Arts in Totnes, England to read for a doctorate. Her thesis will be on modern violin excerpts in the Mediterranean countries.
In addition, she is also a member of the ESTA Society (European String Teachers Association) and the PRS Composers’ Society.
Her list of achievements would be impressive for anyone, but this gentle, unassuming young woman makes it sound like a piece of cake.
“I showed an interest in music all by myself from an early age – I was never pushed by my parents, but they’ve always supported me. I began singing in a choir when I was eight, and at 13, I began studying the violin.”
What that means in Gozitan terms, of course, is that at 13, she was already making her way by ferry to Malta for lessons, practice and theory.
“For Gozitans, all the travelling back and forth is a matter of course…” she shrugs.
She obtained her violin diploma and eventually went on to university, where she graduated with a B.Ed in Music.
Mariella’s ambitions were always clear-cut – to pass on her love of music to others – and so she began teaching violin at the Gozo School of Music in Sannat.
“I’ve always wanted to have a career in music – I cannot imagine doing anything else,” she says simply. Meanwhile, she had started composing and one of her songs Violino Mio made its way to Zecchino d’Oro. Her talent for composition was recognised when she won a prize for musical arrangement in Ghanja tal-Poplu and when two of her songs (written with her cousin) made it to the finals of the International Festival of Maltese Song. Other opportunities have since followed: she was an international judge for a festival in Moldova and played the violin with Mro Joe Galea’s choir at a Greek competition in the year of the Olympic games. “We won the competition”, she points out quietly.
Then she was off to Corsica – where she took part with the Mediterranean orchestra.
At the moment, Mariella is attending lessons in composition with Prof Charles Camilleri.
“I enjoy performing, since I play the cello as well. I play a bit of piano too because as a musician you have to know some piano. I enjoy New Age quite a lot, by artists like Enya…in fact, Irish music has a lot of string instruments.
“However, I’ve found that I prefer to concentrate on composition – I feel it is very me. I don’t just compose songs, but also classical and instrumental music. It’s much more creative because you’re not just playing other people’s parts. I’ve written a musical – Passion of Christ – (nothing to do with the film,) which was performed in Gozo, and I wish it to be performed here. I had the lyrics and I wrote the music.”
She will be attending Dartington College three times a year as an external student and in five years she should have her doctorate. As someone who has never stopped studying, this thirst for more knowledge seems to be second nature. But it is not merely a case of acquiring a string of letters behind her name, for Mariella has a purpose in mind:
“One of my aims is to teach at university. Psychologically, I can never stop studying – when I see people like Charles Camilleri, I admire them a lot and wish to be like them. It’s all about time management – I do find time for other things, however I am on the go all the time from the time I get up. There’s no time to just sit and stare.”
Somehow, she has decided that she will also find the time to follow an educational management diploma in Gozo, which would enable her to be a music coordinator. It is all part of her passion for the music she loves so much and which she wishes all children could be exposed to.
“I wish music could be taken more seriously. In secondary schools, all they have is something called AML – arts, music, literature – which is all lumped together. Ideally, each one should be done as a separate core subject…we are very lacking in a genuine appreciation of the arts. Even when you tell people you are studying music, it is not appreciated like law or medicine. That is why I wish to give it a boost.”
She is keenly aware that people seem to have the impression that there is no future in music career wise (we have all heard the age old question “imma x’se taghmel bih?” – what can you do with it”).
Mariella Cassar, however, has proven that music can be a career.
“Apart from teaching, I play at weddings and with different orchestras. In fact, whenever I have the chance, I always encourage students to choose music as a subject.”