Multi-percussionist Renzo Spiteri will be spending four weeks at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing to work on a collaborative project with Chinese musicians from the conservatory.
This cross-cultural music project is being supported by the Tourism and Culture Ministry, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts and the Culture Ministry in China.
Renzo Spiteri has participated in various cross-cultural music exchanges, tours and festivals, with a busy 2005 concert schedule that has seen him perform in diverse venues ranging from the prestigious National Concert Hall in Dublin, to the enchanting Festival of the Desert in the Sahara.
He has shared the stage with international artistes including Michael Alcorn and Pedro Rebelo (SARC, Queen’s University Belfast), Mousse Ndaiye (West Africa), Mercan Dede/Arkin Allen (Turkey), The Edinburgh String Quartet and Narciso Saul (Argentina).
His projects have been presented in various prominent events – “Sounds Unlimited” performed during the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta (presented by The British Council), and “Re:Public”, in collaboration with artist Vince Briffa, selected as closing event during Cork 2005 – European Cultural Capital 2005.
In contemporary presentations of percussive music, Renzo, together with his ¡JunkFunk! Percussion Band performs original musical pieces making use of sounds orchestrated from industrial “raw” materials. His first solo CD entitled “This Is My Language” was released in 2005.
In January 2006, Renzo teamed up with master kora player N’faly Kouyate (core member of Peter Gabriel’s Afro Celt Sound System) in a dynamic duo performance entitled “Chants”, presented to sell-out audiences in Malta. This was the premier performance of their ongoing collaboration that will see them on tour later on in 2006.
Renzo and his music have been featured on MTV music channel and BBC radio stations, and as featured music in art exhibitions in Malta, Florence and Tokyo. He has earned international endorsements from world leading instrument companies Toca Percussion and Paiste Cymbals.
Renzo Spiteri was supported several times by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts on diverse projects. For further information visit www.renzospiteri.com.