Somehow or another, I have never been able to attend Anna Proccedu's events over the years and she has certainly been very active. Valletta means either a taxi or parking outside in the carpark. Returning to a deserted multi-storied car park, on my own at night is dangerous these days. A cousin was assaulted there and she was with her husband at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The chap was after her simple gold chain. He didn't manage to get it. But they did get a fright.
Anyway, I was determined to go to Anna's latest event. She is so enthusiastic and hardworking.
Jonathan della Marianna, Enrico Picchieri and Dott. Anna Proceddu. Photo: Alessandro Longorretti
Like many others this event was held in the church of St Catherine of Italy, the restoration of which happened over several years. It was the first church and building completed in Valletta as an act of thanksgiving following the Great Siege.
Anna, this time had invited two musicians from her native Sardinia to play for us the launeddas. According to Wikipedia, "the launeddas are an ancient instrument, dating back to at least the 8th century BC. They are played using circular breathing. Launeddas are used to play a complex style of music that has achieved some international attention, and they are still played during religious ceremonies and dances (su ballu)."
It is thanks to the musicians, Jonathan Della Marianna and Enrico Picchiri, that we were able to get a taste of this Sardinian music.
I do not seek out ethnic music but I was pleasantly surprised as the two musicians produced such a beautiful sound on the altar of Santa Caterina: harmonious music, pleasant to the ear and soothing to the soul.
Anna made the best of these musicians while they were in Malta. She also made sure that there was interaction with the Music Department at the University of Malta as she collaborated with Max Erwin, Department Head of Music Studies. "All colleagues and students participated enthusiastically at a morning's meeting on the launeddas," she said.
At the end of the concert at Santa Caterina, we all walked out with a miniature panettone which is always so welcome. So many, many years ago our family had its first taste of panettone brought over from Milan together with a box of Baci by a Signor Peyra, a friend of my father's. It is an event we all remember.
The day after the concert, some met at I due Sardi, the pizzeria and spaghetteria at St Paul's Bay. I was unable to join them. "Thank you very much to Fabrizio and Rita, and to their family, for having warmly welcomed us at their place. A special thank you to Rita for the delicious "sebadas" (fried cheese pastries) where we had the opportunity to enjoy great music and delicious food, and the company of many Sardinian friends and in particular that of Sardinian Dance Master Gavino Meledina," Anna reported.
Pianist Yun Cai and solo artist Kym Pepe
I had heard pianist Yun Cai at a private concert in Senglea during the summer months and the small audience was impressed as indeed I was. She simply improvised.
Yun graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music: Bachelor in Multimedia and Visual Design. "I started playing keyboards at 4, classical piano at 6, and the drums at age 16 after passing grade 10 in piano," she had told me.
At the Robert Sammut Hall, as in Senglea there was no programme at a concert which started at 3pm. Yun Cai designs and curates these experiences based on the venue, the emotions that inspire her and so on. The name of this performance, was Serendipity. Yun explained: "This means discovering something really good by accident, and this is exactly how I found out about this venue, as well as how I found out about Malta. Sheer Serendipity!"
She loves the architecture of the Robert Sammut Hall, as well as the contrast of the outside - mid 19 century Gothic church and inside - transformed into a neo contemporary concert hall. She wanted to keep the concert "natural and raw," so she carefully selected the timing of the performance to make sure the natural light could shine inside the hall through the window during the whole show, on herself and the piano. "Thank God that day was sunny! I feel like that's what the church was built for, to embrace the natural light and I wanted to give it back its original state," she says. Now I know why the performance was at 3pm which is most unusual.
The programme was totally improvised meaning it did not have a structure. She had no idea what she was going to play. She wanted to be almost totally free in terms of creativity to allow herself to create the magic of being present together with the audience, without needing to ' think' about the process.
When it comes to the singer Kym, Yun had worked with her on one of her shows before and had been amazed by the range and texture of her voice. "I just knew this show would be the perfect opportunity to show off her voice to the maximum. I came up with the chords and the structure and I let Kym create the melody on top of it as she is also a song writer."
Yun Cai seems so much at ease on the piano. She looked most stylish that afternoon as did Kym. Yes, it is important. A concert is a show as well. Yun sits there and improvises and the music is simply beautiful. "I improvise Neo-classical music," she explained to me. "Neo-classicism in music was a twentieth century trend, particularly current in the interwar period, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint. As such, neoclassicism was "a call to order" after the experimental ferment of the first two decades of the twentieth century."
The singer Kym Pepe made a too brief but most significant appearance. What a voice.
For five years, Kim was a vocalist with established local alternative music group Brikkuni. I remember my daughters raving about them. They released duets such as Il-Lupu Ma Jibdilx Il-pil and Fomm ir-rih. Infact, Kim's very particular voice can be heard in Brikkuni's latest album Rub Al-Khali and in Il-Ħajja, l-Mewt, n-Nisa.
As a solo artist, Kym Pepe released her debut EP 'Kun' in 2020, with the support of Arts Council Malta.
She's inspired by her life's experiences and psychology. Do listen to her on You Tube. I loved her voice and her songs. She's an original in every way. Yun Cai should upload her music on You Tube too.
The concert at the Robert Sammut Hall was full of young people in the audience. Both musicians have a following. So happy to see that for what is life without music?
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