An Evening with Bernice Sammut Attard, Jorge Saade & the Alikòs Quartet

An Evening with Bernice Sammut Attard, Jorge Saade & the Alikòs Quartet

Currently based in Paris, Maltese Concert Pianist Bernice Sammut Attard will be performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 in A major K.488 with the Alikòs Quartet from Sicily. Ecuadorian Concert Violinist Jorge Saade will be performing works by Massenet, Kreisler, Monti and Enrique Espín-Yépez. The concert will end with all 6 musicians performing the 2nd movement of Chausson’s Concerto for Piano, Violin and String Quartet in D Major, Op.21.

This concert is being organised in collaboration with Arts Council Malta and is supported by Visit Malta, Malta Society of Arts, Brillanti Dance & Sunshine Sports.

Programme:

Mozart: Piano Concerto No.23 in A Major k.488
Massenet: Thaïs – Méditation
Kreisler: Liebesleid
Monti: Czardas
Enrique Espín-Yépez: Romanza in Homage to Vieuxtemps “Pasional” & Ecuadorian Dance
Chausson: Concerto for Piano, Violin and String Quartet in D major, op. 21 (2nd movement: Sicilienne)

Entrance is free. Donations at the door are welcome. 

For reservations, kindly email simonesammutattard@gmail.com 

Bernice Sammut Attard, Pianist – Biography

“Ever since competing in the 2018 Eurovision Young Musicians Competition, Bernice Sammut Attard has gone from strength to strength, quickly emerging as one of Malta’s top young talents.”

Born in 2000, Bernice Sammut Attard is a Maltese concert pianist and violinist who is based in Paris. For the past two years, she has been studying at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Marian Rybicki and Qing Li. Last June, she graduated with a Mention Tres Bien and she is currently pursuing a 3rd Cycle Artist Diploma at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. Ruth Hahn is her violin teacher.

Bernice has been a prize winner in numerous competitions. Most notably, she was the winner of the Malta Eurovision Young Musicians 2018 competition. In October 2023 she graduated with a Master of Arts in Music degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In July 2022 she graduated with a First Class Honours Bachelor of Music degree from the same institution. Throughout her studies she was a student of Petras Geniušas, Sinae Lee and Fali Pavri.

Most recently Bernice performed solo piano recitals in Birmingham, Malta, London, Manchester and Edinburgh. On the 26th of February 2024, Bernice performed Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Anu Tali.

Throughout the past years, Bernice has performed in many countries including the UK, France, Poland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Armenia, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Kazakhstan and the USA (Seattle). She performed at prestigious venues including the Royal Festival Hall, Bridgewater Hall and the Stoller Hall in the UK, at the Manoel Theatre, the Mediterranean Conference Centre, and Pjazza Teatru Rjal in Malta and at Salle Cortot in Paris.

Bernice has performed piano concertos in Russia, Italy, Portugal and Malta with various orchestras including Kyiv Virtuosi Orchestra, Sicily Symphony Orchestra, Porto Conservatory Orchestra, North Caucasus Orchestra, Eurasian Symphony Orchestra, Ryazan Symphony Orchestra and the Astrakhan Symphony of the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theatre ‒ collaborating with various conductors including Dmitry Yablonsky, Alexei Galea Cavallazzi, Mikhail Kirchhoff, Sergey Oselkov and William Garfield Walker.

At the age of 16, she was the first Maltese to attend the UK’s prestigious music school Chetham’s School of Music, where she studied piano and violin as a joint principal study with Duncan Glenday and Ruth Hahn respectively. Bernice commenced her studies at an early age in Malta, studying piano with Karen Briscoe and violin with Marcelline Agius.

Bernice is a scholar of the BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation, the Janatha Stubbs Foundation and the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris.

The Alikòs Quartet – Biography

The Alikòs Quartet takes its name from the river Platani, one of the most important rivers in southern Sicily, which flows through the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento, marking the border between Agrigento and Caltanissetta.

The ensemble is formed by musicians from these provinces who, driven by a shared passion and a desire to make music together in their native region, embarked on a common artistic path.

Individually, the members of the quartet have collaborated with, and continue to perform for, some of Italy’s most prestigious musical institutions, including: Teatro Massimo di Palermo, the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Regio in Parma, and the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

The quartet made its debut at the Sicilia Contemporanea Festival in Polizzi Generosa (2021), performing works by contemporary Sicilian composers such as Joe Schittino, Giacomo Cuticchio, Simone Piraino, and Alberto Maniaci. Since then, it has maintained a strong commitment to its regional roots, participating in recordings of a series of quartets composed by Roberto Cipollina for Academy of Ideas.

In 2021, the quartet presented an all-Mozart programme for various music associations, including Amici della Musica in Gela and Caltanissetta, performing alongside soloists Emanuele Anzalone (clarinet), Roberta Trentuno (oboe), and Simone Marino (flute).

In December 2021, the quartet was invited to the inaugural edition of the “Musica a Palazzo” Festival at Palazzo Moncada in Caltanissetta, performing original compositions written specifically for the ensemble.

In 2022, they appeared in the concert seasons of Noto Musica at Palazzo Nicolaci, the “Settimana della Musica” in Altavilla Milicia, and the Orchestra Filarmonica di Canicattì season.

The Alikòs Quartet is also the founder and driving force behind the string group Respighi Ensemble, with which it has enjoyed distinguished collaborations. The ensemble has performed with clarinetists Calogero Palermo and Alberto Culmone, flautists Salvatore Vella and Sacha De Ritis, bassoonist Patrick De Ritis, oboist Stefania Giusti, violinist Salvatore Greco, cellist Kristi Curb, and pianist Christa Butzberger.

Currently, the quartet is preparing its first album, dedicated to Sicilian composers, set for release in 2025.

Jorge Saade – Biography

Violinist, concert soloist, professor, and diplomat, Jorge is considered the most outstanding violinist in Ecuador and one of the finest in Latin America. He graduated with the Gold Medal from the National Conservatory “Antonio Neumane” in Guayaquil.

Jorge is also a cum laude graduate in Music Instrumental Performance from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, Florida, and holds a Master’s degree in Music from the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he studied with the Hungarian virtuoso violinist Robert Gerle. In 1995, he pursued advanced studies with world-renowned violinist Ruggiero Ricci at the prestigious Mozarteum Institute in Salzburg, Austria.

Jorge has given more than 400 concerts and recitals in 45 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Oceania, performing as a soloist with more than 45 orchestras worldwide. He is the only Ecuadorian artist to have performed four times at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York. Saade has appeared in such prestigious venues as London’s Royal Festival Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico, among many others.

He has received countless honours and awards, among the most significant being the National Order of Merit in the rank of Commander and Grand Officer, awarded by the President of Ecuador. Jorge also received the 2018 ACE Award for Best Concert at Carnegie Hall from the Association of Entertainment Critics of New York. Most recently, King Philippe of Belgium appointed him a Chevalier of the King’s Leopold Order.

He served as Cultural and Press Attaché at the Embassy of Ecuador and at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C., as Cultural Director of Guayaquil for the Ministry of Culture, and as President of the Board of the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra.

He is currently Director of the Philharmonic and Artistic Education Department of the Municipality of Guayaquil, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Belgium, and Professor of Violin and Viola at the Arts University of Ecuador, UArtes.

Sunday 8 February 2026

6.30pm

Concert Hall of the Malta Society of Arts,
Palazzo de La Salle,
219, Republic Street,
Valletta

Free

Donations at the door are appreciated