Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542585
9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 14 JANUARY 2026 CULTURE Maltese percussionist Renzo Spiteri returns to Spazju Kreattiv with new duo performance FROM the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean, Nordic Resonance carries the textures and sound world of Shetland into Spazju Kreattiv Theatre in Valletta through an immersive sound performance by Maltese percussionist and sound artist Renzo Spiteri and Scottish flau- tist Richard Craig. Maltese percussionist, sound artist and composer Renzo Spiteri will be joined by Scot- tish flautist Richard Craig to present Nordic Resonance, a new immersive sound perfor- mance shaped by Shetland's environment. At the geograph- ic crossroads between Scotland and Scandinavia where the At- lantic Ocean meets the North Sea, The Shetland Islands are distinguished by a landscape of natural magnificence, bird calls, whale song, the force of the wind, and the ever-chang- ing moods of the coastline and the sea. Using sound as a lived experience of place and devel- oped through deep listening and extended engagement with the Shetland environment, Nordic Resonance explores how sound can carry the pres- ence of landscape and its at- mosphere beyond the place of origin and into theatres and performance spaces. "Nordic Resonance is a con- temporary sonic postcard of a place that I lived in for the past six years where I had the opportunity to immerse my- self in the island's natural en- vironment and to gather an extensive sound library over an extended period of time," said Renzo. "Shetland's natural environment fed into the crea- tion of this new work, and since the sounds of nature are ever changing and never repeat- ing, Richard and I felt that our own playing should reflect this sense of impermanence. Each performance is created in the moment, allowing a new con- versation between nature and music to unfold every time we perform." Environmental sounds, wheth- er presented in their pure form or transformed into abstracted textures, are key elements that shaped the creation of Nordic Resonance, with the musicians responding to, reacting against, and creating counterpoints to the field recordings. The result is a conversation: between en- vironment and artist, between sound and sensation, between what is heard and what lies just beneath. Instruments, found sounds, and live processing blur the lines between the human and the elemental creating an immersive invocation of place through sound, and offering a space for resonance and reflec- tion, where audiences can slow down and listen closely. Renzo Spiteri's performance practice is expansive, weav- ing percussion, found objects, live electronics, and improvi- sation into richly textured ex- periences. Winner of the 2025 Royal Television Society Craft and Design Award (Sound - Non-Scripted) and a 2025 Em- my® News and Documentary Nominee (Outstanding Sound - Documentary), Renzo has over three decades of international performance experience, per- forming across genres ranging from spoken word and world music to jazz, classical, and ex- perimental work. Praised by Gramophone Magazine for his "primal, at times ecstatic state of Fauvist force," Richard Craig has de- veloped a distinctive approach to contemporary flute perfor- mance. He has collaborated with renowned ensembles such as Musikfabrik, Klangforum Wien, and the Riot Ensemble, and is a noted improviser and educator, currently serving as Director of Performance at the University of Edinburgh. Nordic Resonance will be pre- sented at Spazju Kreattiv Thea- tre on Friday 30th January 2026 at 8pm, followed by an artist talk/Q&A session about the project and its developmental process, moderated by visual artist, curator and academic Vince Briffa. Through this ses- sion the audience will be invit- ed to be part of the project by offering thoughts, comments, and feedback about the work. The project is present- ed as part of Spazju Kreattiv 2025/2026 programme, with repeat performances in Shet- land and Glasgow. The work is supported by the National Lot- tery through Creative Scotland.