Musicians
Nadia Debono has recently been appointed Principal Viola with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, after 12 years as its co-leader. She also continues to be an active soloist, performing a range of works from the Baroque to the Contemporary repertoire. She is a member of the New Century Baroque (NCB) Orchestra, an acclaimed international period instrument baroque orchestra that was established by members of the 2009 European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) that had successfully toured Europe that year.
Nadia Debono is also a keen chamber musician, touring France, Italy, England, Tunisia and Scotland. She co-founded the Anon String Quartet and has collaborated with other chamber groups over the years. She has several recordings in her various capacities to her credit.
Marcelline Agius ATCL, LTCL, FLCM studied violin under Guido Mamo, Mario Bisazza, and her late uncle Joseph Galea. She furthered her studies under Joachim Atanassov, and attended master classes with Ursula Gorniak and Richard Deacon.
In 1984 she became a full-time member with the Manoel Theatre Orchestra and was appointed its leader in 1993, a position she still holds with the current MPO. In this capacity she has had the privilege to perform with various conductors of international repute and has led the MPO in performances in conjunction with various foreign orchestras in Brno, Pesaro, Brussels, Rome, Spain and Palermo. In 2006 she was invited to perform in Paris with the World Philharmonic Orchestra.
Apart from performing and recording orchestral and chamber works both in Malta and abroad, Marcelline has appeared as soloist in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins and Brandenburg Concertos, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante, and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending.
Yaroslav Miklukho started studying violoncello in his native Ukraine. After obtaining a Master's degree from the Kiev State Conservatory, he became a member of the Orchestra of the National Ballet of Ukraine and later joined the Kiev State Symphony Orchestra. . He has participated in concert tours which have taken him around Europe, North Africa (Cairo Opera House) and the United States (Carnegie Hall in New York, Severance Hall in Cleveland). He is currently the sub-leader of the cello group of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra as well as teaching cello at the University of Malta.
Michelle Scicluna started her music studies on the piano, then the cello and finally the double bass. Her early music studies were at the Johann Strauss School of Music. In 2014 she obtained a Masters Degree in Chamber Music from the University of Malta under the supervision of Professor Hans Jurgen Nagel. She was also coached by Gjorgji Cincievski, Principal Double Bass of the MPO. She is currently Sub-principal Double Bass with the MPO.
A prize-winning graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music (UK), Joanne Camilleri was recently the first pianist to be awarded a Doctorate of Music in Performance by the University of Malta. Described as a “musician of high intelligence and artistic vision” by international pianist William Fong, Joanne’s versatility has seen her perform in numerous venues around Europe as recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and orchestral/continuo player to high acclaim.
Joanne is a recurrent performer in various prominent international Festivals such as Music at Parkhouse (UK), Musik I sommarkväll (Sweden), Victoria International Arts Festival (Malta) and Valletta International Baroque Festival (Malta). Joanne has performed concertos by Grieg, Saint-Saens and Chopin with British Orchestras and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. She has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Wayne Marshall, Clark Rundell, Eric Hull, Peter Stark, Philip Walsh and Michael Laus. Joanne has released two solo CDs titled In Bach’s Footsteps and J. S. Bach Goldberg Variations.
The inspiration and motivator behind the Goldberg Ensemble, Michael Laus directs the ensemble and plays the harpsichord. He graduated in piano, harpsichord, composition and conducting at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. Apart from being Associate Professor at the University of Malta and Principal Conductor of Malta’s national orchestra for 23 years, he has been invited to guest conduct several other prestigious orchestras, such as the Bournemouth Symphony, the Berne Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfonica de Asturias, the Slovak Radio and the Slovak Philharmonic. Laus has conducted a large number of opera performances in Malta, Oviedo (Spain) and Berne (Switzerland). He has a number of recordings on international labels to his credit. These include Ignaz Brull’s Violin Concerto, the score of which he reconstructed from a damaged autograph manuscript, and Cyril Scott’s Harpsichord Concerto, in which his harpsichord playing and conducting were highly acclaimed by the international press.
Hungarian cellist Akos Kertesz joined the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012. Previously he worked in the Hungarian State Opera, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, the Limburgs Symfonie Orkest, and Het Residentie Orkest. He graduated from the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, then furthered his studies in the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Akos has toured extensively in Europe, North Africa, the United States, China and Japan. Akos has worked with artists such as Ton Koopman, Robin Ticciati, Neeme Jarvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Yutaka Sado, Jose Carreras, Kiri Te Kanawa, Joseph Calleja, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Toru Yasunaga. A chamber music enthusiast, Akos is a member of the Kalypso Ensemble and cellist of Balaton Duo and the MPO Quartet.
