Sandro Zerafa, Artistic Director of this summer\u2019s Jazz Festival said that this edition probably saw its best turnout in years, for him a positive sign and, naturally, one which all those involved are extremely happy about. Indeed, one of the free evening concerts saw a completely packed Pjazza Teatru Rjal, while the Ta\u2019 Liesse concerts saw an increase of 22.5% in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, I would like to shift the attention to the less ostentatious sides of the Malta Jazz Festival. The festival is permeating Malta\u2019s cultural scene. It is no longer confined to Ta\u2019 Liesse. It is contributing to the creation of what might be termed \u2018a jazz scene\u2019,\u201d commented Zerafa. He went on to note how \u201cit is reaching out to the people without sacrificing artistic content. The festival is creating a legacy. The jam sessions, the midday concerts, the masterclasses and the informal \u2018fringe\u2019 gigs – they are as valuable as the main events. Music is about connecting with people, and jazz needs to restore that \u2018popular\u2019 element without succumbing to populism\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Michelle Castelletti, Artistic Director of this year\u2019s Malta International Arts Festival, explained how there are so many things that she loves about the International Arts Festival \u2013 mostly because it touches people\u2019s lives and enriches our marvellous island, creating wonders, stimulating audiences, and, perhaps, even triggers emotion. All this topped up a good dose of fun and excitement. It is, for her, undoubtedly the most satisfying feeling in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut, do you know what moves me most inside? It is when I see a child watching with his or her eyes wide-open, still and mesmerised listening to classical contemporary music or watching art unfold in front of him\/her and remaining open-mouthed and motionless, or starting to dance in front of me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is when I see the workshops come to fruition that I know we have changed that person\u2019s life forever \u2013 even if s\/he does not know that yet. And I\u2019ve seen that this year,\u201d added Dr Castelletti, who already has her eyes keenly set on next year\u2019s festival and Malta being European Capital of Culture 2018. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arts Council Malta is proud to report the success of two of its primary summer festivals held between the end of June and 22 July. Apart from the increase in the number of attendees, the Council is pleased to note the Malta International Arts Festival and the Malta Jazz Festival have continued to develop and reach a wider audience<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized-mt"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8853,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8819\/revisions\/8853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}