Albert Garzia

I compose mainly for media and stage so maybe that is why I tend to look for inspiration in visual and dramatic elements. I am quite picky with my music and, although I give myself a hard time scrutinizing it and testing its possibilities, I can see how the final work is reflective of my process and my character in general.

Maltese composer Albert Garzia started his musical training as an accordionist at an early age under Dorselle Mifsud with whom he also studied piano performance later on. He started his composition studies with Raymond Schiberras however his formal academic studies were in Industrial Electronics in which industry he worked for the following ten years. The technical background supplemented his incessant fascination for the diverse facets of music which kept leading him to experiment in many of its fields. Interests at the time circled mainly around the performance and production of progressive music. Eventually, he was encouraged to start undergraduate studies in music composition at the University of Malta. There he studied with Dion Buhagiar, John Galea, Joseph Vella and Charles Camilleri among other. He completed his B.A. (Hons.) (first-class honours) read concurrently with a Diploma in Sacred Music.

His ‘Wacky Noise Thing’ for orchestra (with which he placed in the Euromed Festival for Composers 2017) and his popular ‘Caricatures from Malta’ (often performed and eventually recorded by the Cosmos Wind Ensemble) helped Garzia gain popularity as a contemporary composer in the music scene.

He was admitted to the School of Composition and Contemporary Music at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) to read for a Master’s degree in composition which he completed with distinction. There he studied with Adam Gorb, Paul Patterson, Gary Carpenter, and David Horne among others.

Garzia's music ranges from orchestral to chamber combinations and has been performed in a variety of settings. Some of his piano music has also been published for pedagogical use. He has also collaborated with various drama companies, choreographers, poets, film directors, and instrumentalists. While being versatile in his approach, his objective is principally an effective musical communication which he strives to achieve by fusing folk elements into a contemporary musical language.

His highlights include ‘Bahr’, a 50-minute piece for dance work choreographed by Mavin Khoo for ŻfinMalta Dance Ensemble and commissioned for the official opening ceremony of the 2017 Maltese EU Presidency. It was performed by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra performed under the direction of Brian Schembri.

His music has been performed in some of the most prestigious venues such as Munich’s Gasteig, Stuttgart’s Liederhalle, Wiesbaden’s Kurhaus, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and Vienna’s Musikverein.