The board of the Manoel Theatre has announced that it has engaged conductor and pianist Mro Brian Schembri, who has distinguished himself both at home and abroad, as the theatre’s music consultant. Mro Schembri will be taking an active role in the music programming of the theatre.

The board said this was another milestone in the theatre’s recent history, coming in the wake of the successful production at the theatre of Mario Philip Azzopardi’s Sulari fuq Strada Stretta.

Brian Schembri started his music studies under the guidance of his father Carmelo, very early establishing himself as a highly talented concert pianist, frequently performing on TV, radio and at public concert halls.

After he became the youngest ever student to obtain the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (London) he continued his studies at the Kiev and Moscow “Tchaikowsky” State Conservatories.

There he actively participated in the student concert life, both as pianist and conductor, winning first prize in the Beethoven Concerto Competition. He obtained an M.A.(music) and did a post-graduate course in piano with Alexander Snegiriov and Sergei Dorensky as well as conducting with Roman Kofman and Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

He was appointed assistant conductor with Michel Plasson at the Orchestre du Capitole and the Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse, and also collaborated with prestigious conductors James Judd, Edoardo Muller, Serge Baudo, Yuri Temirkanov, Garcia Navarro, Armin Jordan and Emmanuel Krivine.

Brian Schembri has conducted an impressive list of orchestras, recently being appointed Chief Conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de France and more recently with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa. He is currently artistic director and principal conductor of Filarmonika – an orchestral project aiming at the development of orchestral practice and the promotion of young soloists and new generation composers.

Besides performing and giving piano recitals in Malta, Italy, France, Ukraine, Switzerland, Russia and Britain, he has recorded a CD, Piano Recital of three great sonatas by Beethoven, Schubert and Rachmaninov and other CDs of works by Charles Camilleri with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.