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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 DECEMBER 2023 6 ALMANAC My essentials RYAN PAUL ABELA 31, musician, composer and orchestrator My Name is Ryan Paul Abela and I have been in the music scene for quite some time now. I started to study music at a very early age and I developed a particular fondness for film music. I studied classical piano early on but always felt that it wasn't my instrument; that is when I decided to opt for the electric bass. It was an instant connection, and it has been my main instrument since. I'm never short of new ideas, and during lockdown, I suddenly dreamt about creating a string- only ensemble. A few weeks later The Palace String Orchestra was born. It was an immediate success, from the very first concert within the Museum of Archaeology, Notte Bianca 2019. Our semi classical repertoire and movie themes set us off on a truly magical musical journey which also developed into other genres including pop concerts with original string arrangements, such as our latest on New Year's Eve. 4 5 1. Book 2. Film Internet / TV 4. Music 5. Place MY overflow of emails ha- ha. Jokes aside, I particu- larly follow Ian Kirkpatrick also known as Cloudology on YouTube and all social platforms. He has produced a lot of Dua Lipa's top songs. Since being a musician and a producer myself, I like to keep myself up to date with every popular song out there. Ian has tutorials I am fond of on YouTube, he breaks down his popular songs and shows the viewer what he does and how he creates certain effects which is invaluable to any music producer nowadays. THIS is a very difficult ques- tion to answer since there are so many albums and genres which I love to listen too. But if I had to pick THE ONE that is always on my playlist is John Williams' Score of Superman. I am a huge admirer of his and believe he is one of the greatest composers and orchestrators of all time. The soundtrack of Superman is for me, phenome- nal, from the Prelude up until the Finale, the score captures emotions and gives a sound to the hero on a screen. If you listen closely, the notes play the words Sup-per-man in the March! Genius. MY favourite place on the island is within the majestic Manoel Theatre. As a young boy I spent countless days there watching musicals, plays and pantomimes, you can even say I grew up in there. My fondest memory of that place is spending every Christmas period in the or- chestra pit watching my fa- ther conduct. I know look forward to conduct at the Manoel myself, it will truly be a special and magical ex- perience. I have always been a lover of strat- egy, so the one book that I have to mention is Sun Tzu: The Art of War. As I read the book hoping to learn valuable lessons from the past, Sun Tzu, who was not in my opinion the wisest Commander in every aspect of his leadership and strategy, has taught me many valuable lessons which I have found particularly useful in my business and personal life as well. One quote which has always been a favourite of mine is "Be ex- tremely subtle even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate." UNFORTUNATELY, I don't have a lot of time to watch movies anymore, but the one movie that I have recently rewatched is The Pursuit of Happiness. The movie is so well acted, DIRECTED and tells a phenomenal story of a man who is at his breaking point, but still manages to overcome his obstacles to give his son a better future is truly wonderful. The movie instilled important values in my mind, the val- ues of persistence and hard work and that everything is achievable if you work hard! Compiled by Laura Calleja suggestions by email lcalleja@mediatoday.com 1 This article is supported by Arts Council Malta 3 2