Local composers now have the chance to put their talent to the test. In addition to its many diverse and innovative initiatives of a cultural nature, APS Bank now continues to support local composers by launching the APS Bank Music Competition for Maltese Composers.
Participants in this competition, which will be for an oratorio-type work lasting about 60 minutes, will be able to choose from two subjects, highlighting two particular aspects of Malta’s cultural and religious heritage, namely the Catholic faith and Maltese literature in general.
Local composers are being asked to prepare work which takes any of two specific artistic pieces into consideration – a sacred work setting the Latin texts of the three great Canticles of the New Testament found in the Gospel of St Luke, or else a song cycle setting seven poems written by Ruzar Briffa, on the theme of Ghanjiet ta’ Bniedem Solitarju.
During a press conference, Prof. EP Delia, APS Bank’s chairman, explained how the bank tried to identify a niche which is still unrecognized and rarely
sponsored: “APS Bank has now decided to move into a sphere which, it believes, needs support and national appreciation – the composition of new musical works that, hopefully, will form part of the musical legacy which tomorrow’s generations will appreciate and take pride in.”
The winner of the first prize will receive a 2,500 euros cash prize and, if the work is of a high enough standard, it will be performed in a concert and recorded. The second prize is 1,500 euros. APS Bank has a history of supporting Maltese music, in fact during the same press conference the bank also launched the latest of APS CDs, Giuseppe Spiteri Fremond’s Messa Grande, as well as this year’s APS flagship concert to be held in November, in which Pietro Paolo Bugeja’s Messa Solenne will be performed.
Further details regarding the APS Bank Music Competition for Maltese composers including regulations and entry forms are available either from the website www.apsbank.com.mt or from the bank’s head office in Floriana.