In its bid to promote Maltese art and artists, the Embassy of Malta in France recently organised, Les Sons d’une ile, an evening dedicated to jazz music. 

The main attractions of the evening were the two Maltese artists – established guitar player Sandro Zerafa, and up and coming singer Francesca Galea.

In his introductory remarks, Ambassador Vincent Camilleri thanked the audience for their presence and the continued support given to the cultural events organised by the Embassy. He also extended a warm welcome to the Maltese public who was able to follow the event from Malta through live streaming. Ambassador Camilleri seized the opportunity to thank the Cultural Diplomacy Fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the financial support and the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts and the Malta International Airport for making the Malta Jazz Contest possible.

The very first edition of the Malta Jazz Contest was organised during the Malta Jazz ‘Fringe’ Festival last summer, in partnership with the Embassy, with the aim of giving an opportunity to up and coming Maltese artists to play abroad.

The winner of the first edition was singer Francesca Galea.  Francesca sang during the first part of Thursday’s evening. Accompanied by a pianist, she enchanted the audience with her beautiful voice. She sang a number of Brazilian tunes in Portuguese and the audience was even treated to a song in Maltese, written by Paulinho da Viola, which Francesca translated herself for the occasion. 

The second part of the evening featured the established Maltese guitarist Sandro Zerafa and his Quintet.  The group presented the audience with a taste of their new album ‘The Bigger Picture’, which is expected to be released in December.  The audience was not disappointed after being  treated to an hour and a half of fresh, elegant and sophisticated music composed by Sandro himself.

The concert can be watched at: youtu.be/LGx2R0eF6-g