Steven Psaila

As a composer, I tend to listen to nature and its elements I so love deeply.  Nature has a delicate way of evoking emotions and my aim as a composer who writes atmospheric music is to portray these sentiments to the audience.

Steven Joseph Psaila was born on the 19thApril 1984. He started his musical education at the age of six learning the piano under the late Mrs. Antoinette Borg. As a student at St. Edward’s College, Psaila was actively involved in school concerts and it was during these events that he started performing original works for piano. He then proceeded to the University of Maltawhere he read for a degree in Music Studies specialising in Musicology as well as studying composition under the guidance of Christopher Muscat.

His compositions include a number of short works for strings, works for piano one of which titled Silhouette, written exclusively for children and performed in 2011 and in January 2022 as well as sacred and liturgical compositions. Two of his piano compositions ‘Jogging’ and ‘Waves’ were performed by Maltese pianist Tricia Dawn Williams in February 2014 whilst ‘Waves’ and ‘The Forsaken’ composed for Chamber Orchestra and Mezzo Soprano have also been performed in Washington D.C in 2013 and 2014 respectively. His piano composition ‘Enlil’ composed in 2015, which involves a more modern use of the Piano using technique such as the ‘Prepared Piano’ has also been performed by Tricia Dawn Williams in Malta and in Bulgaria. Psaila is a music teacher at St. Benedict’s College and has also taught at the Johann Strauss School of Music.

Through music Psaila joins his interest in composition with his love for nature resulting in compositions such as ‘The Storm’ and ‘Whispering Winds’ that was premiered by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in February 2011.

Psaila’s love for poetry has engaged him into composing an Orchestral Suite Katrin Tal-Imdina in four movements based on Dwardu Cachia’s poem with the same name which won him first place in the Second National Music Competition for Maltese composers, organised by APS Bank and ‘Rakkont’, and orchestral composition composed specifically to be premiered during the President’s New Year Concert in January 2014. Rakkont was also performed in 2020 under the baton of Grammy nominated conductor Darrell Ang.  He has also won first place in the MCCA music composition contest for Independence Day with his Orchestral composition ‘Il-Misteru ta’ Hagar Qim’ inspired by the megalithic temples that go by the same name that portray Psaila’s love for nature and history.

Psaila has also composed an original piece for Chamber Orchestra and Soprano on Immanuel Mifsud’s poem ‘Dahlet Qorrot’ sung by Francesca Aquilina in 2016. His pieces ‘Metanoia’ for String Quartet and ‘Elegy’ for String Orchestra have been performed by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra during Fondazzjoni Paulus’ annual concert in 2021 and 2022 respectively.