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maltatoday SUNDAY 17 DECEMBER 2017 30 This Week 'Nothing stops us from being Now that one of Malta's youngest musical showcases has drawn the last curtain on its latest edition, TEODOR RELJIC speaks to Artistic Director Joseph Lia about the past, present and future of the Malta International Organ Festival, whose fourth edition was capped off with a Grand Finale concert at St Augustine's Parish Church in Valletta on December 7 Now that it's over, how do you feel about the fourth edition of the Malta International Organ Festival? Did it live up to your expectations, and how do you feel it builds up on what you achieved in the previous year? Every year we try to improve in terms of quality and program content, to give the audience something to look forward to. From the casual feedback we had from the audience, it seems this was the best year ever. This shows that we are im- proving and building up on what we already did. We learn from experience. We are very limited in terms of financial possibilities when compared to other festi- vals, but when it comes to ideas, nothing stops us from being creative. What kind of audience have the events been attracting, and has this changed in any way over the last year? This year we tried to reach new audiences, as we try to do each year. We analysed the results of the Cultural Participation Sur- vey, along with the results of our own survey and devised a strate- gy to attract new audiences. We included new art forms that at- tracted different audiences, such as combining silent film with or- gan improvisations and ventur- ing into new venues which are unorthodox to organ music, like Strait Street in Valletta. Enthusiasm in local commu- nities naturally translates into pride of our local heritage. What also inspires pride is the knowl- edge that international artists will play in our communities, where all artefacts – and so, the organ too – were crowdfunded by the locals. For our paying concerts, the audience consisted mostly of tourists and expats, while the larger percentage of audiences in towns and villages were Mal- tese. What can you tell us about the talent involved in this year's edition? It is a priority to include lo- cal talent in this festival. First of all, when foreign artists come to Malta to play, they give a bench- mark of quality towards which local artists must strive if they are to secure an international career. The festival gave the opportunity of two free mas- terclasses with professors of an international standard. One was in Malta, at St Augustine's Parish Church in Valletta, and the other was in Gozo, at the Xewkija Parish Church. Those who attended our masterclasses in previous years were invited to play again this year, and we plan to continue doing this for the coming years. One of these attendees is also studying in "Enthusiasm in local communities naturally translates into pride of our local heritage" "For our paying concerts, the audience consisted mostly of tourists and expats, while the larger percentage of audiences in towns and villages were Maltese" The fourth edition of the Malta International Organ Festival took place from November 21 to December 7, across various venues in both Malta and Gozo Joseph Lia