Entrance: in front of the Courts of Justice, Republic Street
The Malta International Arts Festival invites the audience to descend into the fascinating depths of Valletta. This intimate recital by flutist Laura Cioffi will take place inside a 16th century underground water cistern. The highlight of the programme is Vermont Counterpoint composed by Steve Reich in 1982 for flutist and prerecorded tracks of the same instrument. The audio backtrack has ten parts, to which the live performer adds an eleventh, playing alto flute and piccolo as well as the standard flute. The programme also includes FaT for flute and tape by Donnacha Dennehy and Hopscotch for solo flute by Anna Clyne. A truly unique concert, enhanced by the evocative setting of the underground site.
Programme
Donnacha Dennehy FaT (2000)
for flute and tape
Anna Clyne Hopscotch (2019)
for solo flute
Steve Reich Vermont Counterpoint (1982)
for flute and tape
Credits
Laura Cioffi - flute
Programme Notes FaT for flute and tape (2000) - Donnacha Dennehy
FaT is a vivid exploration of breath, resonance and the interplay between live performer and fixed sound. The title hints at both “flute and tape” and a focus on the physicality of air, as the flutist’s sound is constantly refracted by the electronic layer. The tape part supplies dense harmonic fields, rhythmic pulses and halos of resonance, within which the flute line weaves, pushes, and occasionally disappears. Dennehy often draws on just intonation–like harmonic colours and subtle micro-variations, so that pitch feels both grounded and fluid. The writing demands great control of timbre and dynamics, from fragile, barely voiced tones to more incisive gestures that cut through the texture. Rather than a traditional concerto role, the flute becomes a protagonist inside a larger sonic environment, creating a hypnotic, immersive soundscape where human breath and electronic echo continuously shape one another.
Hopscotch for solo flute (2018) - Anna Clyne
Hopscotch is a lively, playful miniature that explores the instrument’s agility, colour and personality. Written as a kind of musical game, the piece mirrors the childhood activity of hopscotch through quick shifts of register, sudden changes of direction, and rhythmic “jumps” that keep the listener off balance. Short, fragmented motives are tossed about, repeated and transformed, creating a sense of spontaneous improvisation. The flutist is asked to navigate rapid articulations, nimble passagework, and characterful phrasing, often moving between light, airy whispers and more incisive, percussive gestures. Although compact in scale, Hopscotch encapsulates Clyne’s flair for vivid musical imagery and theatrical presence, turning a simple idea into a kaleidoscope of textures and gestures.
Vermont Counterpoint (1982) for flute and tape - Steve Reich
Vermont Counterpoint was composed in 1982 for flutist Ransom Wilson, initiating a series of pieces for live performers playing against taped performances (including New York Counterpoint for clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and Electric Counterpoint for guitarist Pat Metheny). The tape part has ten parts, to which the live performer adds an eleventh, playing alto flute and piccolo as well as the standard flute. “The compositional techniques used are primarily building up canons between short repeating melodic patterns by substituting notes for rests and then playing melodies that result from their combination,” Reich writes. “These resulting melodies or melodic patterns then become the basis for the following section as the other surrounding parts in the contrapuntal web fade out.”
Biographies
Laura Cioffi - flute
Maltese flautist Laura Cioffi is a versatile performer equally at home in classical, contemporary and cross‑genre collaborations. Originally from Żurrieq and now based in the UK, she appears regularly with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and Scottish Opera’s Education Department, alongside engagements with various orchestras and ensembles across Britain and Europe. A passionate chamber musician, she is a founding member of Duo Aulos and the award‑winning Risatina Quintet, with whom she has premiered numerous new works written specifically for her. Laura made her concerto debut at 19 with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra performing Chaminade’s Concertino, and has since featured as soloist in concertos by Vivaldi and Doppler. She studied at Edinburgh Napier University (BMus, First Class with University Medal) and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (MMus, Distinction), supported by several Maltese arts scholarships. In collaboration with Heritage Malta
