My student Karl Schembri has just returned from St Petersburg where, between 20-24 February 2014, he participated in the VIII International Pop Vocal Competition “The Magic World of Coulisses”.   Karl, who is a 14-year old boy soprano, competed with over 300 participants from various regions in Russia and other neighbouring countries.  He managed to garner top votes and won the Grand Prix title for the best solo performance.

The jury consisted of famous artists, professors of creative universities as well as popular musicians, actors, composers and producers. The Head of Jury was Mr. Igor Alekseevich Bogdanov, a professor of the St Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy, and the Chairman of the Department of pop and musical theatre. The festival organiser “Triumph” commented: ‟Karl’s performance was so wonderful that there was no point in comparing him with others – he was the best.″

My first Students Showcase of 2014 was held on 11 February 2014 at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture (RCSC) in Valletta.  They were accompanied by two great musicians – Kris Domancich on piano and Eric Santucci on guitar.  It was a night full of different genres of music – some Russian music, some pop, some classical and some own compositions.

I would like to thank Oleg Beglov and his wife Viktoria at the RCSC for giving us opportunities like these. For students, it is important to get experience stepping out onto a stage and performing before a live audience. This is a valuable stepping stone in their singing career.

My student Lyndsay was nominated for Best Solo Artist and Best Song “Daphne” at this year’s Malta Music Awards held on Sunday 9 February.

She released “Daphne” (composed by Kenny D’Ugo and Dave Calleja and written by Lyndsay herself) in January 2013 and it topped the local charts making it to the no.1 spot for 6 consecutive weeks.

Here’s her official music video:

My student Jessika participated in the Malta Eurovision song festival last Friday and made it to the final on Saturday. She, together with her 3 dancers, gave a powerful vibrant performance and although she didn’t win the contest, she won the hearts of the Maltese people by winning the public vote.  Here’s her song Hypnotica, composed by Philip Vella and Jessica Muscat.

I, together with Joshua Alamu, once again organised our annual Artist Development Showcase on 7 December 2013.  This concert is always held to showcase our students’ talents and to be a platform for them to gain experience on stage. Music accompaniment was live and directed by Heathcliffe Balzan.  Backing vocals were done as usual by me and Joshua, but this time we were joined by upcoming artists Maxine Pace and Jasmine Abela.

This is not a competition, however there was judge hailing from the UK, the great Emi Green, in attendance to provide her feedback on the performance as a whole. This is for the students to know how well they are doing and what they have to work on in the future.