Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Owen Bonnici has launched the newly formed National Agency for the Performing Arts (NAPA), which will provide a joint legal, administrative, and organisational framework for KorMalta, TeatruMalta and ŻfinMalta, with the aim to keep pushing the boundaries for further development in these key areas.
Mro Dominic Galea has been appointed the first Chief Executive Officer of the Agency.
“As a government, we are responsible in ensuring further development in the cultural and creative sector. The creation of NAPA will serve as a strong platform for collaboration and a more centralised approach with regards to the joining of forces with the aim of improving further these crucial sectors. We believe that through such an Agency we can further increase accessibility to the arts, strengthen our creative economy, and provide our artists with a more established platform for professionalisation in the sector,” Minister Bonnici stated.
The Agency will also legally establish KorMalta as the National Choir, TeatruMalta as the National Theatre Company and further empower ŻfinMalta as the National Contemporary Dance Company.
Arts Council Malta Chairman, Albert Marshall stated “This Agency will keep on representing Maltese performing arts also on an international level, whilst guaranteeing a strong curated and consolidated national calendar for the local performing arts sector, including collaborations with other PCOs, and the private sector. These three entities, within this Agency, undoubtedly offer remarkable contributions in shaping Malta’s cultural landscape.”
The Agency will be governed by a Board of Directors and a Chairperson, while being managed by a Chief Executive Officer, a Director of Administration and three Artistic Directors. In order to ensure continuity, the persons who used to occupy the position of Chairperson and Members of the Board of Directors of ŻfinMalta will now all be occupying the position of Chairperson and the Board of Directors of NAPA.
Alison White, NAPA’s Chairperson stated that the the Agency will work towards creating new performance and educational opportunities and seeks to foster links between industry in Malta and that in other countries through its international work.
Mro Dominic Galea said that these three entities will be the pioneers for this entrepreneurial, creative and much needed project, which will be instrumental in the strengthening and development of the Maltese cultural and artistic sector.
Mro Dominic Galea
Dominic Galea studied jazz piano with his father Sammy and later in London with British Jazz Stan Tracey.
Mro Galea furthered his studies in composition with Maestro Pawlu Grech and obtained a Masters Degree from the University of Malta in 2010. He also holds Diplomas in Pianoforte Performance, Theory, Composition, a Fellowship Diploma in Professional Achievement, all from the London College of Music, and an “Outstanding Musicianship Certificate” from Berklee in Umbria. Since 1983 Galea participated and won various awards in festivals both locally and abroad namely: Slovakia, Egypt, Australia, Bulgaria, and Italy amongst others. He also won the Best Composer Award at the “Malta Music Awards” in 2001.
Mro Galea’s versatile works include: sixteen Musicals, set music to a large number of Maltese literary works, incidental music for TV shows, Short Film, Ballet, Jazz Suites and other contemporary works. Recently, Dominic Galea was promoted as one of Europe’s leading jazz pianists at the famous jazz club in London. He took part at the “Bratislava Jazz Days” (1985), where his composition “Horizon” was recorded on a double album featuring international jazz musicians such as Stanley Clarke, Terje Rypdal and John McLaughlin.
He also performed in various Jazz and Cultural Festivals in Malta, England, Cyprus, Portugal, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany.
Galea produced over thirty albums most of which featuring his own compositions.
He has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta since 2008.
