Biography
My life has been balanced between my work as a composer and my activity as an Education Officer for Music. Both fields have provided me with several opportunities to work closely with people and integrate diverse influences in my creative work. I sift through and absorb daily stimuli and sensations. These create music that expresses my artistic aesthetic and inspires me to produce compelling personal statements.
Mariella Cassar-Cordina is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music and educator. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Music Education and a Post Graduate Diploma in Administration and Management from the University of Malta. In 2005 she was awarded the M. Phil (Music) from the Mediterranean Institute at the University of Malta. Having been a regular student of Maltese composer Charles Camilleri, she decided to further her studies at Falmouth University incorporating Dartington College of Arts, UK, where she obtained a doctorate degree in Music composition under the tutorship of Christopher Best, Trevor Wiggins and David Prior.
Besides being a violinist, she also plays the violoncello. Her works vary from solo, chamber to full-orchestral works. She collaborates regularly with various Maltese and foreign artists, musicians of the Fisarchi ensemble (Florence), viola player Martha Mooke (US), composer Joel Thome in partnership with Orchestra of Our Time Inc. (US), and visual artist Victor Agius. Her works have been performed in Malta, Manchester, Bristol, Florence, Montepulciano, Austria, Prague, and NYC, one of her pieces being recorded live by Dunelm Records.
Cassar-Cordina has been a member of jury in a number of international singing festivals, including the Malta International Choir Festival in 2011. Dr Mariella Cassar-Cordina is also the Education Officer for Music in Malta, lecturer at the School of Performing Arts and Faculty of Education at the University of Malta, founder of the Malta Association of Music Educators (MAME) and co-founder of Ars Vitae Ensemble.