Composers

Maurizio Schembri – Composer (b. 1972)
Maurizio Schembri

From an early age Maurizio had an appreciation for music. It’s basic elements: Rhythm, harmony, timbre and texture have always fascinated him. His greatest discovery was when he started going through his dad’s reel to reel tapes, listening to the music of the likes of The Beatles, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The exposure to classical music came from his grandfather with whom he used to spend hours listening to classical music especially Italian Opera.

He eventually took up drums & percussion which he played & performed with several bands. In 2003 Maurizio decided that it was the prime time to get back to his music studies. He enrolled for a course in Music Theory at the Johann Strauss School of Music and he also took additional private tuition in music theory along with piano.

During 2008 Maurizio attended a course in Audio Engineering at MCAST as he was in the process of building a Home Recording Studio. In 2009 he took up Music Composition under the tuition of Mro. Effie Pulis at the Johann Strauss School of Music. In 2012 Maurizio had started widening his knowledge on Modern Music Techniques, Contemporary Music Composition, Instrumentation and Orchestration under the guidance of Dr Reuben Pace whose ideas, philosophies, techniques and methods were found to be very helpful and inspiring.

His music has been performed at the Sala Isouard, Manoel Theatre – Valletta; MITP Theatre, University of Malta – Valletta; Marian Hall, Sacred Heart Convent – St.Julians; St. James Cavalier – Valletta & The Westin Dragonara – St. Julians.

Maurizio is the Co-Founder & Vice-President of the Malta Art Music Association (MAMA) - an entity which strives to raise the profile of Maltese Art Music.

Programme Note

“La Vittoria” – Music for Strings - (Maurizio Schembri)

First rendition of this contemporary piece was performed by Orchestra Paulus on Sunday 9th February 2014 at St Paul’s Collegiate Proto Parish Church, Rabat, Malta, under the direction of Paul Portelli

This work is an In Memoriam to the physical and psychological tribulations that the Maltese Christian population had undergone to achieve “La Vittoria” (The Victory) in the Great Siege of Malta (1565) – a crucial moment in the struggle between Islam and Christianity for the domination of the Mediterranean. A memorable historical episode which preserved Christianity – the Faith introduced to Malta in around A.D. 60 by St. Paul on his way to Rome for trial.

The emotional by-products of such tribulations along with those of pride and joy of “The Victory” itself are expressed by the composer in a combination of classical forms and modern techniques which are craftily interchanged and intertwined in a subtle creative way throughout this work.