Programme

J. Vella (1942 – 2018)                                    Sinfonietta for Strings op. 36

R. Williams (b. 1965)                                     Flute Concerto                                                                        

J. Haydn (1732 – 1809)                                 Symphony no. 104 in D Major Hob.1:104 (‘London’)                                                                        

Described by The Times as ‘a glorious individual player’ and a player of ‘intelligence and distinction’, Anthony Robb is currently solo flute of the Oxford Philharmonic. After his studies at the Guildhall School of Music, London, Anthony was appointed principal flute with the BBC Radio Orchestra. This led to invitations to play as guest principal with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, and the Academy of St Martins in the Fields. As well as his position with the Oxford Philharmonic, Anthony regularly appears as guest principal of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National, and many other orchestras. As a concerto soloist he has appeared with the Halle, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the City of London Chamber Orchestra, and the Oxford Philharmonic. Recent recordings include discs of chamber music by Jean Francaix, chamber music by English and French female composers where his playing was singled out by the Gramophone magazine in 2017 as being ‘highly impressive’, and most recently a disc of music for flute, oboe and piano.

Anthony is firmly committed to outreach and educational work. He leads projects for the Oxford Philharmonic at the Churchill Hospital; the Wigmore Hall ‘Music for Life’ project and working with people living with dementia. He also trains students at the Royal Academy in working with children in hospitals. Anthony lives in leafy Hertfordshire with his wife (a qualified Iyengar yoga teacher), three grown-up children, and three dogs.

Philip Walsh was born in Southampton, England, where he studied piano and organ and went on to read music as organ scholar at Queens’ College, Cambridge University, studying with the renowned Bach specialist Peter Hurford. After graduating he spent several years in New Zealand, where he was Director of Music at Wellington Cathedral and conductor of the symphonic chorus the Orpheus Choir. 

On his return to Europe, he has worked for L’Opéra de Metz, l’Opéra de Bordeaux, English Touring Opera, Almeida Opera, London, and the Aldeburgh Festival. He made his Spanish debut conducting Don Giovanni for Opera en Vigo.  Orchestras he has conducted include the London Sinfonietta, the City Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong, Orchestra del Teatro ‘La Fenice’, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale, Bologna, l’Orchestre National de Lorraine, RTS Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. 

His credits include his debut at La Fenice, Venice, conducting Pier Luigi Pizzi’s production of Thomas Ades’s Powder her Face, also appearing at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Lugo Opera Festival. He also worked with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, having appeared with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in concerts in Parma, Modena, and Ferrara, and with jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater in the Verona Jazz Festival.

He was the artistic director of the French opera festival Lyrique-en-mer for whom he conducted over 200 performances, including Bluebeard’s Castle, Rigoletto, Tosca, Falstaff, La Cenerentola, Madama Butterfly, La bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Die Zauberflöte, Otello, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Don Pasquale, La Traviata, I Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi as well as Bach Johannes-Passion, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung. 

A frequent performer in Malta, he has conducted Teatru Manoel’s productions of L’Elisir d’amore and Orphée et Euridice, and the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy of Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. He has been conducting the opening and closing concerts of the Victoria International Arts Festival as its resident conductor since 2018.

The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is Malta’s foremost musical institution. It was founded in April 1968, when musicians from the recently disbanded ‘Commander-in-Chief’ (C-in-C) orchestra of the Malta-based British Mediterranean Fleet regrouped as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra. It continued to serve as the theatre’s resident orchestra until September 1997, when it became an independent orchestra, taking up the name National Orchestra of Malta. The orchestra became the MPO in 2008, when it expanded into a full-size symphony orchestra, bringing together musicians from Malta, Europe and beyond.

Joseph Sammut, who was the C-in-C’s last conductor and the Manoel Theatre Orchestra’s first, was succeeded by Joseph Vella, John Galea, Michael Laus, Brian Schembri and Sergey Smbatyan. The MPO’s current resident conductor is Michael Laus. The orchestra also works with local artists including Joseph Calleja, Simon Schembri, Carmine Lauri and Miriam Gauci, as well as international guest artists including Ray Chen, Diana Damrau, José Cura, Mikhail Pletnev, Camille Thomas, Gautier Capuçon, Daniel Lozakovich and Enrico Dindo.

As Malta’s leading musical institution, the MPO averages more than one performance a week, including symphonic concerts, opera productions in Malta and Gozo, community outreach and educational initiatives, as well as various concerts of a lighter nature. During the past seasons, the MPO embarked on a Digital Transformation reaching audiences worldwide through its Online Programme.

The orchestra has performed in leading venues across the globe, including in the United Sates, Russia, Dubai, Germany, Austria, China, Italy, Spain and Belgium. The MPO is a keen exponent of Maltese composers, regularly performing their works in Malta and overseas, as well as frequently premiering and commissioning new works. It is also responsible for the training and professional development of the next generation of Maltese musicians.