Programme

M. De Falla (1876 – 1946)                    Siete canciones populares españolas                                                             

F. Decruck (1896 – 1954)                      Sonata in C# for Saxophone and Piano

R. Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958)    6 Studies in English Folk Songs                                                             

D. Milhaud (1892 – 1974)                     Scaramouche                                                               

Philip Attard is a Gozitan saxophonist who has appeared as a soloist in several concert series and venues around Europe and the USA, including highlights at the Wigmore Hall, the Cadogan Hall, St John Smith Square, St James Piccadilly, the Southbank Centre and the ‘Elgar Room’ at the Royal Albert Hall. He has also appeared in important festivals and series including the Malta Arts Festival, the Victoria International Arts Festival, the Three Palaces Festival, the Embassy Series, Washington DC, and the Park Lane Group Series, London.

Philip graduated with a Master of Music with Distinction, and later with an Artist Diploma from the Royal College of Music (RCM), where he studied with Kyle Horch. In the course of his studies at RCM, he was a first-prize winner of all the college competitions, including the Edward and Helen Hague Senior Woodwind Prize, the Jane Melber Saxophone Competition, the Douglas Whittaker Woodwind Chamber Music Competition, and the RCM Concerto Competition, later being awarded the Savage Club Prize for the most imaginative and individual concerto performance throughout the year. He was also awarded first prize in the Wind and Percussion Category of the prestigious Royal Over-Seas League Competition, and he was prize winner in the Tunbridge Wells International Competition. Philip has also been successful on many professional platforms including the Tillett Trust and the Tunnell Trust, Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, all of which led to concerts on important platforms around the UK.

Philip is currently based in Malta, where he leads an active performance career as a soloist and chamber musician. Alongside his solo performance activity, Philip collaborates with many local bands, mainly the Big Band Brothers where he is often invited to lead the saxophone section. He has worked on many classic/jazz cross-over projects on saxophones and clarinets, whilst being a regular solo and guest player with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. Philip is also a passionate saxophone teacher and holds a Master in Education from the Royal College of Music. He regularly works as a saxophone and clarinet teacher and has also given master classes at the University of Southampton, the University of Highlands and Islands, and the Malta Saxophone Festival, and was guest woodwind tutor on projects with the Malta Youth Orchestra.

Christine Zerafa is a Maltese pianist whose performances have been praised for their ‘sensual, silky tone and virtuoso command’ (The Evening Standard, London). She has been described as ‘a musician with a warm and very communicative personality’ (The Times of Malta). She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concert series and festivals across Europe and the United States, performing at major venues including the Royal Festival Hall, the Wigmore Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, St John’s Smith Square, the Cadogan Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, and in the Oxford Lieder Festival, among others. She has appeared on BBC Radio 3 as well as on BBC television. Most recently, she was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an honour awarded in recognition of her significant contribution to the music profession.

Christine has received numerous awards, including first prize at the Bice Mizzi National Competition, the Royal Northern College of Music Clifton Helliwell Memorial Prize, the Royal Academy of Music Scott Huxley Prize for Piano Accompaniment, and the Schumann Lieder Pianist Prize. In the course of her studies, she was also awarded the Eric Brough Memorial Award and the John B. McEwen Prize. She was twice selected as a Park Lane Group Artist and was an award holder on the Tunnell Trust Artist Chamber Music Scheme.

Christine holds a Master of Music degree in solo performance from the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studied with Norma Fisher and Paul Janes, after which she continued her studies with Andrea Lucchesini at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, Florence. Christine completed a Master of Music in Piano Accompaniment with distinction at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Michael Dussek, Malcolm Martineau and Ian Brown, and later completed her PhD at the same Academy, focusing on the role of the pianist in song and duo chamber music. Alongside a busy performance career, she is active as a researcher, educator and coach, frequently working with singers and instrumentalists in master classes and higher-education settings, and presenting her research internationally at conferences devoted to artistic research in music.