Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/958047
maltatoday SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2018 43 This Week Small, intimate and groundbreaking: Contemporary music leaves the Concert hall The Regional Concert Series will bring contemporary music to your community MODERN Music Days (MMD) has recently announced six dates for its Regional Concert Series as part of the culture programme of Valletta 2018. "The strategy is to take con- temporary music to places where it is not being heard," says Ru- ben Zahra, the artistic director of MMD. "Another important strand is to present these con- certs in unique, lesser-known heritage or cultural sites within the six districts of the Maltese Islands, including Valletta." Taking place between April and November, the six concerts will be held at the Ta' Bistra Catacombs in Mosta, the Vic- tor Passmore Gallery in Valletta, Mnajdra Temples in Qrendi, Castello Lanzun in San Ġwann, the Żejtun Parish Crypt, and the Citadel Cultural Centre in Gozo, respectively. The first concert, 'Kantilena Procession', which will take place on April 7 and 8, will feature a site-specific electronic music work by Dutch composer Luc Houtkamp at Ta' Bistra Cata- combs in collaboration with Her- itage Malta. Then, on May 4 and 5, the second concert, entitled 'Transition', will feature Maltese pianist Tricia Dawn Williams at the Victor Pasmore Gallery with an interdisciplinary piano re- cital portraying video-art, elec- tronic music, motion-capture technology and extended piano technique. 'Transition' is being organised in collaboration with Central Bank of Malta, Fondazz- joni Patrimonju Malti and The Victor Passmore Gallery. The third concert, 'Ritual', cel- ebrates the summer solstice at the Mnajdra Neolithic temples with a music performance by Scottish trombonist John Kenny, who will be tracing the evolution of the instrument by commenc- ing the concert on a seashell, moving on to the Celtic war horn known as the 'carnyx' and ending with the modern trombone. 'Rit- ual' is organised in collaboration with Heritage Malta and will be held twice: on June 23 at sunset and June 24 at sunrise. "Reaching out to different com- munities is an important part of Valletta 2018, as well as any Euro- pean Capital of Culture," Zahra continues. "Outreach, however, doesn't have to be mainstream. In fact, MMD is committed to presenting artistic excellence to all audiences." Although each event within the MMD Regional Concert Series is limited to a small audience – mostly due to the intimate set- ting of the historical venues – ticket prices have been kept as low as possible to ensure that anyone who wishes to join can do so. MMD is organised by Teatru Manoel, the Malta Association for Contemporary Music and the Valletta 2018 Foundation as part of the culture programme of Valletta 2018 – European Capital of Culture. Tickets to 'Kantilena Proces- sion' start at just €15 and can be purchased from https://shop.her- itagemalta.org. For more infor- mation, please visit www.mod- ernmusicdays.eu The Zejtun Parish Crypt Ta' Bistra Catacombs in Mosta The Victor Passmore Gallery in Valletta