The Malta Arts Festival – Summer 2007 is in its second year and will comprise three weeks packed with daily events. This year’s two main open-air venues are the Opera House ruins and the Grand Master’s Palace Courtyard. The festival will run from 25 July till 19 August.

The Opera House ruins will this year see large productions such as Etnikafè, Spiteri Lucas’ Back in Time show and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream produced by MADC. The site is currently undergoing a clean-up to provide a better set-up and comfortable seating.

The Palace Courtyard will offer the more intimate space for chamber concerts, flamenco dancing (Puerto Flamenco) and jazz nights. Chamber recitals include big names such as violinist Carmine Lauri and pianist John Alley, and Decca artists Enrico Dindo (cello) and Pietro de Maria (piano). Enrico Dindo appeared in last year’s festival together with Carmine Lauri and Roberto Cominati in a sell-out concert. This year, Dindo will be teaming up with the renowned pianist Pietro de Maria, who has been compared to Richter and Pollini.

Young up-and-coming Maltese performers will also feature in two piano recitals, while a group made up of Canadian, UK, German, Spanish and Maltese musicians are also collaborating to present an international wind ensemble. A brass and percussion ensemble made up of musicians from the National Orchestra will be performing themes from popular movies.

Jazz lovers will surely not be disappointed to hear the sounds of Domenic Galea, Sandro Zerafa and Oliver Degabriele, together with other performers active on the European circuit. They will be offering sounds from purist to the more rock-oriented and electro-jazz. The National Orchestra will feature in its ever-popular Orchestra goes Pop concert that will take place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. Guitar recitals with the Paris-based Simon Schembri and the well-known Carlos Bonell will be presented in the Courtyard of the Auberge d’Italie.

One of the highlights of the Malta Arts Festival – Summer 2007 is the participation of Odin Teatret, a treat for serious theatre-goers. Odin Teatret will stage two performances, apart from conducting workshops and work demonstrations. The public will also have the opportunity to attend to a lecture by the celebrated Italian author and theatre director, Eugenio Barba. SUPA (The Summer University of Performing Arts) once again this year has its own high-profile programme. Its high artistic calibre performances are gaining audiences year by year and the research theatre presentations are offering contemporary dance performances and workshops.

The opening days of the Malta Arts Festival will see Valletta with morning street performances by a troupe of 20 Brazilian clowns as well as performances by a combo band from the American Sixth Fleet who will be playing music by Sousa and Glenn Miller. A special clown performance for children (and adults) will be held in the Opera House ruins.

As part of our 400th anniversary Caravaggio programme, an important contemporary art exhibition will feature five established local artists in five different venues inspired by Caravaggio’s life and works during his sojourn in Malta. The five artists, Vince Briffa, Giuseppi Schembri Bonaci, Caesar Attard, Anton Calleja and Gabriel Caruana all offer different forms of art and the spaces chosen for this collective exhibition highlight the beauty of indoor and outdoor Valletta spaces. Dr Keith Sciberras will be curating the Caravaggio400 exhibition.

Silk Road Suite, an initiative of Ruben Zahra, will be made up of Maltese and French music played by Italian musicians. They will be performing in the Courtyard at Auberge de Castille.

Artists in different genres from Egypt offer a splendid array of Egyptian music, poetry and film. Kinemastic has invited Blu Ericailcane and Lorenzo Fonda, young and cutting-edge Italian artists to hold a workshop in mural painting, which will offer some great surprises.

The festival offers something for regular theatre-goers and new audiences looking to enjoy and experience new talents and activities. It is a national festival which will suit art and theatre lovers in many different ways. The festival is also enhanced with the participation of the Friday night programme of BOV Streets Alive and the popular Strada nights, the après-performance place to be. This year, Strada will take place on the first weekend and the following Saturdays of the festival.

Thanks to the Malta Arts Festival – Summer 2007 sponsors, the Ministry for Tourism and Culture, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, the Good Causes Fund, HSBC Bank Malta plc, Bank of Valletta plc, and the Valletta Local Council, the admission prices are extremely affordable. Xfm Radio is the official radio station of the festival.

Tickets will be on sale from next Monday online from maltaticket.com, and from Agenda Bookshops, Exotique outlets and News Kiosk in Sliema.

Further information can be obtained from Malta Council for Culture and the Arts on tel.: 2124-5168 or one can log on to www.maltaculture.com.