Malta School of Music Concerto Competition Winners

Winners of the School of Music Concerto Competition to perform with Malta Youth Orchestra and Big Band Brothers.
This scholastic year the MAVC Malta School of Music organized its first ever Concerto Competition, aimed to give a new opportunity and important platform to its most advanced music students.

As part of the upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations, the School of Music is enhancing collaborations enhancing its collaborations with cultural entities to develop performance opportunities for our students. The aim of this competition was to select winner(s) who will perform as soloists with two of the most prominent ensembles in Malta.

Classical Category Winner(s): Soloist with Malta Youth Orchestra in the 2024/25 season
Contemporary Category Winner(s): Perform with Big Band Brothers in 2025

Twenty-five applications were received from a wide range of students aged between 12 and 23 years, performing the piano, violin, flute, saxophone, trumpet, voice and guitar. The adjudicating board for the classical category was made up of Dr Max Erwin, Ms Agnieszka Kuzma, Mr Philip Attard and Dr Andriana Yordanova, while the adjudicators for the Contemporary category were Mr Daniel Cauchi and Ms Nadine Axisa. Both adjudicating boards were chaired by the Head of School, Ms Maria Blanco.

The preliminary rounds for the Classical Competition took place on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th April, while the preliminary round for Contemporary Competition was held on Thursday 18th April. Nine finalists were chosen to perform in an open concert on Friday 19th of April.

The finalists gave outstanding performances, each of them highly commended for their musical and technical skills. Due to the exceptional talent, the adjudication panels decided to select three winners for the classical category and two for the contemporary.

The three students who will be performing with the Malta Youth Orchestra are:
1st prize: Karol Aquilina (classical guitar)
2nd prize: Gabrielle Portelli (voice)
3rd prize: Luke Muscat (piano)

The two students who will be performing with the Big Band Brothers are:
1st prize: Emilia Zrinzo (saxophone)
2nd prize: Bradley Farrugia (contemporary guitar)

Ms Maria Blanco presented the certificates to all participants and finalists, together with written feedback from the adjudicating panel. After announcing the winners, Ms Blanco thanked Prof. Michael Laus from the Malta Youth Orchestra and Mr Daniel Cauchi from Big Band Brothers for their generous support in offering these young talented musicians an opportunity they will treasure for a lifetime!