Véronique Vella
Composer, arranger, pianist, and educator, Véronique Vella is the first Maltese woman to earn a Ph.D. in Music Composition. Her work has been performed by leading ensembles including the Orchestra of Scottish Opera and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, and features on several critically acclaimed recordings.
Selected Works
| Fine Line | Orchestra |
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| Wens | Solo Flute |
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| Fjuri I (Sardinella) | Violin, Clarinet in B flat, Cello & Piano |
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| Pale Blue | Soprano, Bass Clarinet in B flat, Cello & Piano |
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| Jagged Jig | Solo Piano |
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| Bidla | Flute & Guitar |
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| Floating | Soprano, Bass Clarinet in B flat, Cello & Piano |
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| W.A.R. | Toy Piano & Music Box |
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| Hope | Keyboard & Electronics |
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| Music for Film - Mr Z | Cello, Piano & Percussion |
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| Banda | Acousmatic |
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| Fjuri II (Passju) | Alto Flute, Flute & Piano |
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| 21 Dances for the 21st Century | Music for Dance |
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| One of the Number | Acousmatic |
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| Il-Kebbies tal-Fanali | String Quartet |
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Scores
https://www.melisma.mt/composers/veronique-vellaReviews
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(the work) "both entranced and excited, for it to stand out in a programme of music that included works by Bach, Debussy and Telemann speaks volumes for its immediate attraction."
(Garry Fraser on Wens, The Courier, 2008)
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"Scottish listeners may recall Véronique Vella’s Fine Line, premiered in Glasgow in 2009, a nicely drawn tone poem with hints of the exotic, derived from Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. It [...] provides effective expressive and textural contrast."
(Guy Rickards, Gramaphone, 2021)
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"By the time Vella bestowed her encore, Evening Meditation from Charles Camilleri’s Times Of Day, the audience applauded her impressive range of talent and, as the deputy chairman of the Manoel Theatre Kenneth Zammit Tabona put it in a short speech at the end, her ability to overcome the intellectual challenge required to amplify the beauty of her work."
(Albert Storace, Times of Malta, 2011)
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"very idiomatically written for the piano and reflects compositional sophistication"
(Prof. Graham Hair on Fantasia, 2010)
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"I was taken with her musical language and was keen to write something for solo flute which led to Wens. It proved hugely popular during the premiere and the subsequent performances I have given around the world have been very well received."
(Aisling Agnew, Classical Guitar magazine, 2011)
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(the) "composition that was worth writing home about was Veronique Vella’s Ritratti for Piano and Orchestra, which was the only work wherein artistic conciseness was whittled down to an etching. All four movements were deftly orchestrated and elegantly fashioned."
(Kenneth Zammit Tabona, Times of Malta, 2011)
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"a work of genius"
(Nigel Osborne on Fjuri, 2008)