In 2018, Malta’s capital city Valletta was named a European Capital of Culture. In view of this, the European Foundation for Support of Culture organised a number of major projects – Days of Maltese Music around the world.
From 25 May to 15 December 2019, the Days of Maltese Music were being held for the second time in Russia at the best concert venues of Kislovodsk, Barnaul, Petrozavodsk, Sochi, Ryazan, Astrakhan, Omsk and Saratov. Also involved in the project were the Association for Support of Cultural Initiatives (Russia) and the Embassy of the Republic of Malta to Moscow.
The joint Mediterranean–Russian project brought together well-known Russian and Maltese music teams, Maltese musicians and conductors. The following soloists performed in Russia: Roderick Bugeja, principal trombonist with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra; Charlene Farrugia (piano), International Ambassador for EMMA for Peace under the patronage of UNESCO; Bernice Sammut Attard (piano), participant in the Eurovision Young Musicians contest and winner of the Malta Eurovision Young Musicians competition; Godfrey Mifsud (clarinet), a lecturer at the Johann Strauss School of Music and the University of Malta; and renowned conductors, including Alexei Galea Cavallazzi, a graduate of Oxford University and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and maestro Alan Chircop, a graduate of the Conservatoire de Lyon, France and the International Mendelssohn-Academy Leipzig, artistic director and jury member of many international music festivals and competitions. The Maltese musicians were accompanied by the North Caucasus Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the State Philharmonic of the Altai Territory and the Symphony Orchestra of the Karelian State Philharmonic, Sochi Symphony Orchestra, Ryazan Symphony Orchestra, Astrakhan Symphony Orchestra, Omsk Symphony Orchestra and Saratov Symphony Orchestra.
The concert programmes for the Days of Maltese Music in Russia embraced works by renowned Maltese composers, such as Joseph Vella, Charles Camilleri, Alexey Shor, Albert Garcia and Karl Fiorini. The Days also featured works by Russian and other distinguished European composers.