Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/741600
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2016 42 This Week Gunning for 'arts tourism' through classical music TEODOR RELJIC speaks to the internationally acclaimed violinist, concertmaster and conductor Peter Manning, who will now be taking the reins of the Three Palaces Festival – a classical music event taking place in various historically significant buildings across the island, from November 4 to 13 How did you feel upon being given the chance to serve as Artistic Director for the Three Palaces Festival? What were your initial thoughts about the potential it had? I was naturally excited and honoured that I was asked to contribute and make Malta a leading music and performance art destination for Europe and importantly to work with a ter- rific team throughout all the seasons of the year. I bring my experience of programming geographically from the Edin- burgh festival right over to the planning of events in China and I have thought most deeply about getting the message out to a huge number of people. We are ready to engage at the high- est level and it is this which I find particularly thrilling. I am also so pleased that the Presi- dent supports this festival. Do you think that Malta is particularly suited to bring the best out of events like Three Palaces Festival? Of course… the palaces and the varied spaces that we will now use are of exquisite beauty and are significant historic and new spaces for all on Malta. In- deed, all our arts tourist visitor numbers, which are growing year on year expect the world's stars and I plan to openly invite the best of arts providers, audi- ences and finest transport links to Malta to mix with this. We have a world audience be- cause of the 'net' and Malta is the perfect destination. I have spent my life performing, con- ducting and devising exciting new collaborations between old and new audiences in new and old spaces and I want to show the world that Malta is the new- est go-to destination... it's such a refreshingly vital country… it has so much to offer. What was your thought pro- cess like when choosing the musicians forming part of this year's edition of the Festival? Was there a particular blend you were going for? I simply wanted the chem- istry to be right between the performers, the spaces and the audience and of course. I asked major artists – both younger and more established – who know the importance of not on- ly performing like stars but also the importance of giving some- thing back while showing us all the thrill of their art for the widest 21st century spectrum. Audiences and new perform- ers will love Malta… it's such a varied country… and I also need my artists to help and promote arts and creativity for the new generation on Malta. What kind of audience do you hope that the festival will attract, and are you confident that it will consist of people from more than just the usual cluster of social 'bubbles' who tend to patronise cultural events in Malta? We are working with a var- ied group of agencies and in- dividuals and creatives and I hope to build through careful but exciting programming, new media and PR, new generation audiences alongside the big- ger 'buzz' and more established audiences out there, which also now uses the social media and which wants to find vital venues and top class events to more widely add to their list of choices. Finally: what can audiences expect from the festival as a whole? The festival will increase the contact between artist and au- dience, it has to engage both with relevant content and the spark of live 'eventing'. We will in time become known for our innovation, fun, playfulness and significantly our deep love for the musical arts alongside putting Malta at the centre of arts tourism with a particu- lar emphasis on vital live per- formance and access for the younger generation. For more information and a full programme, log on to h t t p : / / 3 p a l a c e s f e s t i v a l . c o m / . The Three Palaces Festival is or- ganised by Arts Council Malta We have a world audience because of the 'net' and Malta is the perfect destination Peter Manning