Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1470053
14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 JUNE 2022 ARTS First ever Refugee Week festival in Malta THE first ever Festival of Refugees Week will be held from 20 to 26 June, featuring workshops, screenings and works by Iraqi filmmaker and pho- tographer Karrar Al-Azzawi. The festival is being organised by Dance Beyond Boarders, who create, facilitate and produce dance opportu- nities for people to integrate together. Refugee Week is a growing global movement, happening in Australia, England, Greece, Hong Kong, amongst others. Its purpose is to amplify voic- es and celebrate the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees through the Arts, Community and Cultural Activity. This year's global theme is healing, and celebrating the human ability to start again. Through the festival's ar- tistic and community events, people are invited to meet, have conversations and spend time together, with the in- tention of encouraging compassion, connection and a sense of belonging. Encompassing a variety of partners ranging from creative collectives, ar- tistic entities, NGOs, civil society net- works, culinary enterprises, corporate businesses to governmental bodies, the festival represents the power in collaboration when striving towards one common vision. "For us, these collaborations repre- sent the Hope we have for this festival to cultivate a united community that celebrates diversity," Dance Beyond Boarders said. The festival has been endorsed by Counterpoints Arts, the UK coordina- tors of Refugee Week, and is generous- ly supported by: Arts Council Malta; Association for Justice, Equality and Peace; Medina Asset Management; RiskCap International Ltd. and Team Humanity Norway. BROTHER-SISTER duo Ákos Kertész and Judit Kertész have teamed up to take Maltese au- diences on an exquisite musical journey during an intimate cello and piano recital at Manoel The- atre. Cello Fantasies is the latest event by the Malta Philharmon- ic Orchestra, taking place on 17 June. The programme includes the French impressionist colours of Debussy's Cello Sonata and Fauré's poignant Élégie, as well as the German Romantic lyr- icism of Schumann's Fantasi- estücke, as well as the Twenti- eth Century Hungarian spirit of Kodály's elegant Adagio. The classics will be interpreted by the brother-sister duo, who will showcase their masterful in- strumentality, repertoire which brings out the poetic harmony of the two instruments. MPO Principal Cello Ákos Kertész joined the MPO in 2012 after having played in numer- ous prestigious international orchestras, including the Hun- garian State Opera (Budapest) and the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (Kobe, Japan) and Het Residentie Orkest (The Hague). Ákos has worked with world-class conductors and so- loists, having toured extensive- ly throughout Europe, North America, China and Japan. Judit Kertész, a keen educa- tor, concert pianist, and ac- tive chamber musician, is the prize-winner of various interna- tional competitions in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Spain, having regularly performed at concerts and festivals across Eu- rope and Japan. Sibling duo perform intimate cello and piano recital at Manoel Theatre Ákos Kertész and Judit Kertész perform at Manoel Theatre on 17 June Ákos Kertész