Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome to the page of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), Maltas foremost musical institution. The orchestra was founded in April 1968, when musicians from the defunct C-in-C Orchestra of the Malta-based British Mediterranean Fleet regrouped as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra. It continued to serve as the theatres resident orchestra until September 1997, when it became an independent orchestra, taking up National Orchestra of Malta as its name. The orchestra became the MPO in 2008 when it expanded into a full-size symphony orchestra, bringing together the best of Maltese talent and musicians from Europe and beyond. Joseph Sammut, the C-in-Cs last conductor, was the orchestras first conductor, remaining at the helm until 1992. Since then, the orchestra has also been under the direction of Joseph Vella, Michael Laus, and Brian Schembri. This season, the MPO has appointed Raoul Lay as its Artistic Director, together with Sergey Smbatyan as Principal Conductor and Michael Laus as R...