It was some time in 2002, when I was researching for my first degree dissertation at the Cathedral archives that I met the composer Jes Grixti. At the time he was completing his PhD in musical composition at the University of Melbourne, Australia, which required of him to edit Paolo Nani's opera La Mezza Notte. And, it was this that brought him to the archive, and where our paths met. Since then we remained good friends, even after he had relocated back to Australia. I recall attending concerts of his, one of which was at the Manuel Theatre foyer, where his work for harp Requiem for Peace (2005) was performed by the British-Maltese harpist Cecilia Sultana De Maria, another was his We are Young and Free (2004) for solo piano performed at St. James Cavalier, and his Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra (2005) performed at the Grand Masters' palace in Valletta. In all these performances, what has always struck me in Jes Grixti's work are their intensity, structure, complexity, and a high level of technical prowess in orchestration.
Yesterday's concert at the Grand Masters' palace, performed by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, was no different. Jes Grixti's Zibeg u Bocci was premiered for the first time, together with the works by other Maltese composers. In this concert, the power and organizational structure of his work stood out from all the rest. The concert entailed Maltese folk instruments and orchestra. His instrument of choice was the guitar, which he used economically and effectively. A well done to all the composers, but most of all Jes Grixti.
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