{"id":42,"date":"2020-05-21T09:12:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T09:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10010\/?page_id=42"},"modified":"2020-06-13T07:02:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T07:02:36","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/viaf.org.mt\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Victoria International Arts Festival <\/em>(VIAF) is Malta\u2019s longest-running Festival of its kind. It is a Festival of orchestral, choral and chamber music, which runs for five weeks between June and July every year. During this time, Victoria joins the Festival cities of Europe and beyond, with artists from all over the world converging on Gozo to leave their mark on the soul of this gorgeous Mediterranean island. That is precisely what the Festival in the heart of Victoria, blending drive, professional ethos and the typical Gozo penchant for laid-back charm, has come to signify for an ever-widening network of patrons and admirers hailing from top music centres all over the world down to the cultural-minded visitor and local music lover. Culture makes places distinctive, engendering pride in the local community. It also makes a practical contribution in terms of sustainability, providing employment, encouraging learning and inspiring people to adopt creative and active lifestyles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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VIAF was the brainchild of the late Mro Joseph Vella who was also its first Artistic Director. Together with his committee, Joseph Vella built sound foundations on which VIAF rose and flourished. The current Artistic Director, George Joseph Frendo, continues to build on well-tried and tested platforms with the result that the range and breadth of the programmes offered attests to the high standard, innovation and vision that VIAF has gained a reputation for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cTwenty years ago, together with the invaluable help of my team of collaborators, we started a mini-revolution in Gozo, which can be said to have had ripple effects not only on our small island but also in Malta. The Victoria International Arts Festival is now not only solidly established on the local scene as a quality Festival of, basically, chamber music, but its fame has overflowed its national boundaries to reach and generate interest in a wide international circle. We are now at a stage where we have to select prospective local and foreign participants who write to us asking to perform. This, of course, puts us in a unique position where we can sift and select material to finally come up with a truly professional line-up that has become synonymous with VIAF. Top-notch internationally-established artists, together with the best from the local scene, are the order of the day in this five-week long extravaganza of daily concerts, which, in line with a policy we initiated nineteen years ago, are also offered to the general public free of charge. <\/em><\/p>\n

The scope, breadth, range, and standards of the concerts we are proposing are, naturally, made possible through the infrastructure that my hard-working and creative committee members have managed to put together over the years. In fact, the VIAF can now boast to have at its disposal a truly professional grand piano, a first-class harpsichord, a beautiful Baroque organ and, as from this year, a renovated Square Piano, probably the only one functioning in Malta. These resources are, of course, a sine qua non when one is thinking of asking over world-class instrumentalists who would obviously tend to shy away if they know they do not have the \u2018right\u2019 instrument to play on.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

8th June 2016<\/p>\n\n

\n Mro Joseph Vella\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Mission Statement<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n
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The Victoria International Arts Festival is a five-week long period of musical and artistic bonanza which is offered to the public free of charge. The purpose behind this policy is multi-pronged:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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To encourage as much audience attendance as possible. Despite devising a programme that promotes a high level of excellence, the focus is on accessibility and inclusivity. Providing cultural activity for free over an uninterrupted period of five weeks helps the organisers reach out to a wide spectrum of patrons.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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To focus on up-and-coming young musicians and artists, encouraging them to perform and exhibit their talents to a live audience. Specific concerts and events are devised with this cohort in mind.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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To appeal to the top echelons of the musical and artistic spectrum, whereby artists who perform in world-renowned venues come to perform in VIAF for free, acknowledging the sound and valid premises on which the Festival is built.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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To focus on voluntary work. Not only does the organising committee offer its professional services for free but it also encourages a wide network of young people who are brought on board to help out on a voluntary basis.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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A major focus is on voluntary work. Indeed, to date, the organising committee has always offered its professional services for free and this is encouraging young people to come on board and help out, also on a voluntary basis, in anything that is required of them.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Over the past years, the Festival has gone beyond the fondest dreams of the organisers to the extent that for some years now, the Festival has established itself solidly as Malta\u2019s longest-running high culture event with an ever-widening international dimension. All concerts and artistic\/cultural events are free of charge.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n View Full Programme<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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