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 has the aim to provide a joint legal, administrative, and organisational framework for KorMalta, TeatruMalta and ŻfinMalta, with the aim of keep pushing the boundaries for further development in these important areas.

Mro Dominic Galea has been appointed 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 futher these crucial sectors,” Minister Bonnici said.

“We believe that through such an entity 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,” he explained.

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 is honoured to have brought to life these three entities, which will continue working on synergies and collaborations with other organisations, even on an intersectoral level, and 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 undoubtedly offer remarkable contributions in shaping Malta’s cultural landscape” stated Arts Council Malta Chairman, Albert Marshall.

The Agency will be responsible for the total budget of the three distinct line votes of the three entities, totalling €1.3 million budget whilst securing shared and amortised administration resources such as accounting, procurement, legal and banking procedures, stores, assets, and amenities, archiving and documentation.

The Agency will be governed by one Board of Directors and a Chairperson, while being managed by an Executive Head, a Director of Administration and three Artistic Directors. This will ensure that the artistic vision, development, brand, and identity of KorMalta, TeatruMalta and ŻfinMalta remain distinct, clear-cut and in progress. Each entity’s day-to-day operations and amenities will be set up according to the needs and requirements of its artistic output and cultural mission.

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. In addition to this, the Legal Notice establishing the new Agency will come into force with effect from this month, while the Legal Notice establishing ŻfinMalta will be revoked with effect from July. This will be done in order to have a short transitional period in order to make the necessary administrative arrangements.

Alison White, NAPA’s first Chairperson stated that “The Agency hopes to create new performance and educational opportunities and seeks to foster a relationship between the industry in Malta and that in other countries through its international work.”

On his part, Mro Dominic Galea said that “these three entities will be the pioneers – the first tripod – for this entrepreneurial, creative and much needed project, which will be extremely 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. Dominic 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 Achievment, 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: Slovakkia, 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 was a board member of Arts Council Malta (2013-2017) and has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta since 2008.

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