Born in Busto Arsizio, she began studying singing with the baritone and pianist Davide Rocca, then perfecting herself with Giuseppe Sabbatini, Alessandra Althoff-Pugliese, Montserrat Caballè, Alberto Gazale, Elena Lo Forte, Piero Giuliacci, Nicola Martinucci, Elisabetta BaIaglia. In 2016 she debuted the role of Amalia in I Masnadieri for the Verdi Festival in Parma at the Teatro di Busseto under the direction of Leo Muscato and under the direction of Simon Krecic, she sang MuseIa in La Bohème in AsLiCo, she debuted the role of Micaëla in Carmen at the Fortress Munot Festival in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. She sang in Aida and as Liù in Turandot at the Sferisterio in Macerata, Amalia in I Masnadieri at the ABAO-OLBE in Bilbao, Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly for the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa and at the Verdi Theatre in Trieste, in Le Trouvere al Teatro Regio
di Parma, Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Micaëla in Carmen at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the soprano soloist in G. Verdi’s Requiem for the Sacrum Festival. Among the next engagements will be Desdemona in Otello by G. Verdi at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Musetta in La Bohème at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste and Carmen at the Teatro di Sassari.

Mikheil Sheshaberidze was born in Kaspi (Georgia) and studied singing at the State Conservatory “Vano Sarajishvili” in Tblisi until 2006. He completed his studies with different masterclasses (with Lella Cuberli among others) and enjoyed successes with renowned Italian opera competitions. He established himself quickly on the operatic stage with some of the most demanding tenor roles, such as Don José (Carmen), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Roberto in Puccini’s early opera Le Villi or as Foresto in Verdi’s Attila. International stages (a.o. Milan, Parma, Trieste, Split, Teatro Real in Madrid, Seoul, Lucca, Ravenna, Livorno, Bucharest, Tallin, Tblisi or Cagliari) invited him to perform Alvaro (La forza del destino), Ismaele (Nabucco), Otello (directed by Cristina Muti), Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del west) or Turridu (Cavalleria Rusticana).

He enjoys a special relationship with the Arena di Verona where he gave his successful debut as Don José in 2016 and has since performed there as Cavaradossi or Pollione in Bellini’s Norma. In 2019, Verona saw him as Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur and Radames (Aida), he sang Foresto in Cagliari und celebrated his role debut as Manrico (Il Trovatore) with the Croatian National Opera in Zagreb. In 2020, he was able to debut as Pollione at Teatro San Carlo in Naples before theatres worldwide had to close down due to the Covid pandemic.

Born in Fagnano Castello (Cs), he began studying singing with Maestro Antonio Savastano. He perfected himself at the Verdian Academy “Carlo Bergonzi” in Busseto (Pr), at the Chigiana Academy in Siena and at the Academy of Singing for Soloists of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Winner of numerous competitions including: As.Li.Co. Milan and finalist in the Operalia Domingo Competition in Hamburg. He collaborated with conductors such as: R.Muti, G.Sinopoli, D.Oren, A.Fogliani, R.Palumbo, R.Abbado, M.Plasson, G.Gelmetti, D. Gatti and Directors such as: H. De Hana, G. Vick, R. He went, Pier Luigi Pizzi, G. Del Monaco, M. Gandini. He has performed in various Italian and foreign theatres such as: Teatro alla Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Arena di Verona, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Teatro G. Verdi in Trieste, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Massimo of Palermo, Massimo Bellini of Catania, Regio of Torino, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Grand Theatre of Shanghai, Sao Carlos Theatre of Lisbon, Cairo Opera House, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Alten Oper di Frankfurt, ROH Muscat Oman, and many others. He recorded Maria Stuarda (ArHaus Musik – DVD), La Zingara (Dynamic-Cd) by G. Donizetti and La Cecchina (Bongiovanni Cd) by G. Paisiello. Piero Terranova’s latest appearances in Gozo include the critically acclaimed Amonasro in Aida (Aurora, 2022) and Giorgio Germont in La Traviata (Gaulitana Production at the Aurora, 2023).

Annunziata Vestri was born in Ortona, Italy. She holds a bachelor in vocal chamber music from Pescara Conservatory of music, and a Master in vocal performance from Ferrara Conservatory of music. She has also participated in master classes and has worked with Regina Resnik, Luciana Serra, Bruno De Simone, Jorges Vas De Carvalho, Daniela Dessì, Renato Bruson, Renata Scotto, Silvana Bazzoni Bartoli and Mirella Freni in some of Italy’s finest academies, such as the one in Pescara, the Chigiana in Siena, and the Saint Caecilia in Rome.

Winner of several international competitions, Vestri’s impressive repertoire currently includes the major opera titles like Carmen, Azucena ( Il Trovatore), Amneris (Aida), Preziosilla (La forza del destino), Fenena (Nabucco), Margherita (Guglielmo Ratcliff), Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), Quickly (Falstaff), Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), Rosa Mamai (L’Arlesiana), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Irene (Belisario), Tacredi e Isaura (Tancredi), Neris (Medea), Madelon (Andrea Chenier), Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Suzuky (Madama Butterfly). These roles have helped Vestri appear on the bills of important opera houses in Italy, such as Teatro San Carlo (Napoli), Teatro Regio (Torino), Teatro Regio (Parma), Teatro dell’Opera (Roma), Sferisterio (Macerata), Carlo Felice (Genoa), Teatro Massimo (Palermo), MaggioMusicale Fiorentino (Florence), Teatro Comunale (Bologna), Petruzzelli (Bari), and the Festival Pucciniano (Torre del Lago Puccini), and elsewhere, in Marseille, Montecarlo, Kazan, Schenkenberg, Kiel, Opernfestspiele (St Margarethen) and the prestigious Wexford Festival (Wexford). It comes as no surprise that such a career has already seen Vestri work with acclaimed conductors and stage directors including Zubin Mehta and David Livermore.

Luke Azzopardi Studio focuses on the idea of timeless elegance stemming from the creative director’s academic background in costume history. Luke Azzopardi’s methodology of fusing together powerful visuals, academic research and artisanal design is what distinguishes his work as one of Malta’s foremost fashion artists. This translates into the ethos of the maison, a self-sustainable atelier embracing concept-based fashion and beauty. The offering of Luke Azzoprdi Studio has always been curious about the nature of the art object, and how when this interfaces with fashion, it lives through its audience. This has created a genre which is unique to the studio within the local cultural landscape, and which has positioned the brand at the receiving end of critical acclaim since its inception.

The interfacing realms of fashion- and art-making often delves into confessional themes of identity-building, cultural rites, and historic rituals, deriving fresh new narratives with which to reach out to audiences. Immersive events maximise on the narratives of each space and contribute to the complex, layered stories that they become a part of.

After studying at Central Saint Martins (UAL) and the University of Malta (UM), creative director and founder Luke Azzopardi launched his eponymous brand. The creative director was awarded the prestigious ‘Premio Cultura e Moda 2016’ by L’Istituto Italiano di Cultura, the ‘Fashion Designer of the Year 2018’ award by LovinMalta, and has most recently been shortlisted for the award of ‘Artist of the Year 2018/19’ by Arts Council Malta. As a multidisciplinary designer, Azzopardi has designed large-scale national and international operatic as well as contemporary dance productions, and along with Open Square Collective, has been chosen by Arts Council Malta to design the country’s debut pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2023 (LDB). ‘Għonnella: Deconstructing the Garment’, his book on Malta’s national costume, was published by MidSea Books in 2022.

Award-winning choreographer Riccardo Buscarini is an artist focused on constantly changing his creative approach to choreography and exploring its possible interactions with other art forms. Riccardo trained at Accademia Domenichino da Piacenza/IT and London Contemporary Dance School where he graduated in 2009. Highlights of his career as an independent artist so far include winning The Place Prize 2013 with the piece Athletes, the participation in the international research projects danceWEB (Impulstanz, Vienna), Creatives in Residence at The Hospital Club (London), ArtsCross London 2013 (UK, Taiwan and China), Performing Gender (Italy, Croatia, Spain, the Netherlands), MAM-Maroc Artist Meeting in Marrakech.

Riccardo was commissioned to create original works on international dance companies. Silk, his Golden Mask 2018 double nominated creation on Chelyabinsk Contemporary Dance Theater (Russia) was restaged at ZfinMalta, the National Dance Company of Malta in autumn 2019. In 2019 he was commissioned to create a new work on Equilibrio Dinamico Dance Company. In 2020 he was one of the commissioned choreographers of EDGE Dance Company (The Place, London) and created a new work for 45o Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano/IT. In 2022 he created Requiem for Juliet, his version of W. Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet for ZfinMalta.

In 2016 he approached opera direction working on Don Pasquale (Donizetti), Barber of Seville (Rossini), Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Rigoletto (Verdi) for Associazione Amici della Lirica Piacenza in collaboration with Giuseppina Campolonghi, and on Sebastiano Dessanay’s The Cry of the Double Bass (Tête á Tête Opera Festival, London). In January 2019 he assisted M° Italo Nunziata in a new production of Verdi’s La forza del destino at Teatro Municipale (Piacenza), Teatro Pavarotti (Modena) and Teatro Valli (Reggio Emilia), Italy. He worked as choreographer for G. Donizetti’s Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali.

From 2011 to 2015 Riccardo taught Choreography and Performance at Birkbeck University, London. He has taught and mentored professionals in Italy, UK, Malta, Spain, Croatia, Sweden, Cyprus and Russia.

Riccardo is the founder and president of De Arte Saltandi, cultural association dedicated to Domenichino da Piacenza, master of good manners at the court of Ferrara and Milan and author of the first essay about dance in the Renaissance. The Association organises dAS FESTIVAL, Piacenza’s dance festival.

Colin Attard, “is a familiar figure on the local music scene. His energy is as boundless and dynamic as his hair, and I know few local musicians who are as energetic as he is” (Albert Storace, The Sunday Times of Malta, 03/03/2014).

Born in 1962 in a highly musical family from Victoria, Gozo, inevitably, Attard grew up in a rather musical environment. He advanced musical studies under the tuition of his late uncle, Prof. Joseph Vella. Indeed, his artistic development and creative impulse were very much moulded within the parameters of his native Gozo – with a necessary corollary being versatility and pragmatism. In turn, he has been a key player in the development and promotion of Gozitan culture, crucially contributing to the revitalisation of its concert activity ever since becoming musically very active in the early 1980’s.

In 1990 he officially founded the Gaulitanus Choir, Gozo’s first unaffiliated choir. Contemporarily, he also first became associated with the Teatru tal-Opra Aurora and its parent organisation, the Leone Philharmonic Society, being appointed resident conductor in 1991. Aware of the constant need to keep up with change, he has been at the front in drifting away from the ubiquitous, tried-and-tested music, thus presenting contemporary, challenging and rather ‘unfamiliar’ classics as well as more trendy, popular music.

Yet, Attard is perhaps more widely known as a pivotal personality in Gozitan operatic productions in which he is not just the man behind the baton but also extensively involved in their organisation, besides doubling as choir master. Colin Attard remains a very proud Gozitan in heart, giving his all to further develop Gozo’s high-quality cultural programme and to enhance Gozo’s image as “an island of culture”.