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3 CULTURE maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 AUGUST 2026 Applications open for The Write Note 2026 songwriting programme APPLICATIONS have opened for the 2026 edition of The Write Note, a week-long song- writing and artist development programme aimed at emerging singer-songwriters, with organ- isers offering just 10 places for this year's intake. The programme will run be- tween 31 August and 6 Septem- ber, taking participants through every stage of the creative pro- cess, from writing an original song to recording a professional studio demo and performing it live before an audience. Hosted at Teatru Salesjan, the initiative brings together as- piring artists with established musicians, producers and vo- cal coaches through a series of workshops, rehearsals and men- toring sessions. Participants will spend the week writing, arranging, re- hearsing and recording original material before performing their songs during a public show- case accompanied by a resident band led by Ryan Paul Abela, alongside Luke Grech, Melchior Busuttil and Isabella Turso. The programme also includes re- cording sessions at Cornerhouse Studios, performance photogra- phy and networking opportuni- ties within the music industry. The international faculty in- cludes Andrea Rodini, a vocal coach who has worked on X Fac- tor Italia, The Voice of Italy and the Sanremo Festival, and Tom- maso Ferrarese, Head of Singing at CPM Music Institute in Milan and a vocal coach for Area San- remo. The programme's artis- tic direction is led by Stefania Grech Vella, with additional ses- sions delivered by industry pro- fessionals. Organisers say the programme has already helped previous par- ticipants progress in their mu- sic careers. Among last year's cohort, Amelia Kalabic reached the finals of X Factor Malta per- forming an original song, while Gianluca Abdilla Castillo was selected as a featured soloist in Rockwired. Elisa Borg won The Write Note Best Composition Award, with her winning song later produced by Tommaso Ferrarese, and Greta Holland performed her original song Xemxi at CPM Music Institute in Milan. "The Write Note isn't simply about songwriting," artistic di- rectors Stefania Grech Vella and Isabella Turso said. "It's about helping new artists discover their artistic identity and giving them the confidence, guidance and opportunities to develop it. We want every participant to leave with a stronger sense of who they are as an artist, new creative tools, meaningful in- dustry connections and a clearer vision for where their music can take them." Three participants will also receive awards, including an opportunity to perform at Crea Music Week in Milan, release an original single with Bluebell- disc Music or perform as a guest artist with The Palace String Or- chestra. Applications are now open. Prospective participants can request further information by emailing info@scrollsproduc- tion.com. Confluences – A collaborative exhibition by Giovanna Brogna Sonnino and Fabio Sgroi CONFLUENCES brings together the artistic prac- tices of Giovanna Brogna Sonnino and Fabio Sgroi, placing in dialogue two distinct approaches that, while evolving along differ- ent paths, share photogra- phy as a means of inquiry and the construction of meaning. Giovanna Brogna Sonni- no's work develops through the reconfiguration of im- ages, texts, and archival materials, reflecting on memory, identity, and the autobiographical dimen- sion. Fabio Sgroi, through a rigorous photographic practice, explores the so- cial and human landscape, revealing the transforma- tions of reality with a gaze attentive to its tensions, margins, and processes of change. Rather than presenting a contrast between opposing visual languages, the exhi- bition highlights the points of convergence between two complementary ways of seeing: one directed to- ward the inner landscape of memory, the other toward the historical and collective dimensions of lived experi- ence. In both practices, the image becomes a site where the visible and the invisible, documentation and inter- pretation, fragmentation and recomposition inter- sect. Confluences invites visi- tors to engage with a space in which images, experi- ences, and narratives con- verge, offering a shared re- flection on photography's capacity to question reality and generate new forms of knowledge. Giovanna Brogna Fabio Sgroi