Churches and unexpected venues across Malta and Gozo will host eleven concerts for the 12th Malta International Organ Festival, featuring everything from Baroque favourites to 20th-century heavyweights, community events, and a mid-festival screening of Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin with live organ-and-percussion score at Eden Cinemas on 26 November, running from 20 November through 7 December 2025.

Baroque Valletta: Malta and Naples in dialogue

The series opens on 20 November at 7:30pm at the Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck, Valletta with Stabat Mater: Abos & Pergolesi. Ukrainian vocal ensemble Kiev Baroque Consort joins Maltese and Italian collaborators in a Neapolitan-school conversation pairing Girolamo Abos with G.B. Pergolesi—two composers shaped by Francesco Durante.

Gozo: historic instruments, village churches and a trumpet’s call

On Saturday 22 November at 6:45pm, the Parish Church of St Margaret V.M., Sannat presents One Europe in Music, a deep dive from the Tabulatura Joannis de Lublin through Pachelbel, Froberger, Kerll, Muffat and Bach—ideal literature for Gozo’s baroque colours. A day later in Fontana, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church hosts The Trumpet Shall Sound, setting hymn tunes and classical favourites alongside film music for the vivid pairing of organ and trumpet. 

From organ loft to silver screen: Battleship Potemkin with live score

On 26 November at 8:30pm the organ relocates to Eden Cinemas, St Julian’s for Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 classic Battleship Potemkin, performed with a live score by C. Jarrett and Joseph Bibi Camilleri on percussion. 

Russian moderns, dancing organs

28 November at 8pm brings a solo organ recital at St Augustine Parish Church, Valletta—Shostakovich, Predecessors & Contemporaries—marking 50 years since the composer’s death and placing him alongside Prokofiev and Mussorgsky. The following night, Saturday 29 November at 7:30pm, the Basilica of Jesus of Nazareth, Sliema hosts Le Roy Danse – The Organ Between Classical Music and Popular Tradition, tracing the interplay between courtly dance and popular rhythm from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Community voices, quiet reflection and a personal tribute

On Sunday 30 November at 12pm, the Rotunda of Mosta welcomes a lunchtime community concert. The atmosphere turns contemplative on 1 December at 6:45pm at Our Lady of Pompei, Marsaxlokk, with a solo programme titled The Light. The next evening, 2 December at 7pm at St Mark’s Church, Rabat, Sacred Arias pairs organ and baritone, and includes the world première of Marco D’Avola’s Romanza a George, Op. 79, dedicated to George Lia (1949–2025).

Organ meets saxophone: an unexpected pairing

5 December at 7pm shifts to the Onorati Oratory, Jesuits’ Church, Valletta for Pipes & Reeds – An Encounter of Sounds, teaming German organist Ralf Borghoff with award winning Italian saxophonist Cesare Travagin. 

A symphonic conclusion on a grand instrument

The finale on 7 December at 7pm brings organ and orchestra together on the grand majestic organ of the Basilica of Our Lady of Porto Salvo and St Dominic, Valletta, with Johannes Skudlik conducting and Winfried Lichtscheidel at the console for a programme centred on Rheinberger’s Concerto No. 1 in F, Op. 137, alongside Handel, Vivaldi and Naji Hakim.

The Malta International Organ Festival 12the edition is supported by VisitMalta, APS Bank, Biz Consult Ltd, the German Embassy in Malta, the Italian Cultural Institute, and Festivals Malta. Full program and details from www.MaltaInternationalOrganFestival.co