APS Summer Festival: Featuring Everything From Live Music To Maltese Films
With all the time we’ve spent indoors, we’re all pretty much deprived of some good, entertaining, artistic entertainment – and no, binge watching ’13 Reasons Why’ doesn’t count as art.
The recently-announced APS Summer Festival is looking to help you out with just that. Sponsored by APS Bank, co-produced by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and Valletta Cruise Port, this festival is set to bring the Maltese artistic scene closer to the community in a celebration of summer along the Valletta Waterfront Quays.
So buckle up and read on, ‘cause there’s a whole lot of artistic talent to go through!
What’s better than ending the day with a feel-good film? Ending it with a feel-good film under the stars with the Grand Harbour quite literally behind you. Sounds magical, right? Well, that’s exactly what’s gonna go down at the APS Summer Festival – and worry not, there’s a film for everyone!
The four-week long festival has attributed three different genres of film to three different days of the week
‘Filmed In Malta Sundays’ will see both local and international features shot on our island – from ‘Simshar‘ all the way to ‘Midnight Express‘. ‘Drama Films Mondays’ will bring some of our favourite emotional pictures to the big screen, with Clint Eastwood’s war drama ‘American Sniper’ taking the first slot on Monday 29th June.
Tuesdays are for classics, so pretty much everyone’s going to like these screenings. From guilty-pleasure ‘Grease’ to cult-classic ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Classic Films Tuesdays’ will satisfy practically anyone you might know.
‘Musical Films Wednesdays’ will see some of our favourite 21st century musicals hit the big screen – from Oscar winning ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ all the way to fan-favourite ‘The Greatest Showman’.
So grab your mates and enjoy some musical fun under the summer stars.
The APS Summer Festival is also dotted with performances from some of Malta’s favourite musicians – and they’ve all got something different to offer.
The open-air festival will kick off with a vocal concert featuring a couple of internationally renowned sopranos, from Nicola Said all the way to Marvic Monreal. These guys will be accompanied by a string quartet conducted by none other than the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra’s very own resident conductor, Michael Laus.
The second musical performance, titled ‘Muso Merlot’, will bring to the spotlight some of the best-loved musical theatre songs – think ‘West Side Story’ and ‘We Will Rock You’.
This prime performance is being headed by Studio 18 and will feature Malta’s only barbershop quartet – Barbetti – and some musicians from the Malta Philarmonic Orchestra.
Music to our ears, literally.
The festival’s set to throw you all the way back to the good old days, with local musician Nadine Axisa taking to the stage to perfrom her latest album, ‘Il-Ħoss tal-Għabex’. This project’s made up of a number of traditionally Maltese songs from our favourite Maltese artists which have been cleverly adapted to a contemporary jazz style.
The last two days of the APS Summer Festival will see local favourites Red Electrick making their way to the stage with some of their best hits from their latest album, ‘Tragic Optimistic’, as well as a couple of classic covers.
As if that wasn’t already enough talent for one stage, these local celebrities will be joined by a string quartet from the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, so it’s fair to say that the festival’s going out with a bang. More variety will come your way from the likes of the musicians of the Malta Youth Orchestra, Cheryl Balzan as well as Kersten Graham.
This festival’s determined to set you up with enough activities to last a whole night, so listen up!
All APS Summer Festival patrons will be entitled to a 10% discount from any Valletta Waterfront outlet until the end of August. So enjoy a pre-performance aperitif and end the night with a hearty meal whilst saving up on some serious cash.