The Artists
Jacob Portelli
Musician: Harp, Baroque Cello, Violin, Organ & Psaltery
Jacob Portelli is the resident harpist of the Archdiocese of Malta and has occupied this position since 2020. He is a founding member and violist of the Cordia string quartet that regularly performs at private and state functions. In 2016, Cordia performed for H. M. Queen Elizabeth II during the 2016 Commonwealth Day celebration at Marlborough House, London. Jacob holds an LRSM in harp and violin, and a Diploma in viola. He plays the baroque violin, baroque cello, and is a member and leader of the continuo section of the Valletta International Baroque Ensemble. Jacob released four studio albums in 2020: ‘Kinnor’, ‘Nevel’, ‘The Christmas Song’ and ‘We Three Kings’. Jacob’s lifelong passion for music has led him to perform in various European cities including Athens, Caltagirone, London, and Torino.
Tom Armitage
Tenor
Tom Armitage is a British tenor, composer, and pianist residing in Malta. He works predominantly as a répétiteur and accompanist, with a special interest in the field of contemporary music. His compositions are multi-award winning and his works have been performed in several countries across four continents.
As a singer, Tom is currently studying privately with soprano, Denise Mulholland. Since 2024, he has been a member of the Opera Nova Project — a training programme for young singers in Malta. Prior to this, he studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the University of Malta.
Operatic roles include Tamino (Die Zauberflöte - Mozart); Captain Christian Slütter (Corto Maltese: La Ballata del Mare Salato - Monique Krüs); Benoit (La Boheme - Puccini); The Sailor / The Spirit (Dido & Aeneas - Purcell).
Angelo Muscat
Tenor
Born in Malta in 2000, Angelo began singing at an early age with the Chorus Urbanus, under the direction of Dr. John Galea. He later proceeded with his opera and classical studies under the guidance of Juliette Bisazza Zanni and subsequently Dr. Andriana Yordanova. Angelo made his debut performance back in 2012, performing as a soloist with Chorus Urbanus accompanied by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in a Christmas concert held in Qala Gozo and in St. Julian’s Malta. Each year, tenor Angelo Muscat engages himself in a series of concerts where he invites international and local artists to collaborate with him.
Angelo has been engaged in a number of musicals held at The Don Bosco Oratory Theatre in Victoria Gozo. These include the roles of Sasha and the Russian Tenor in Fiddler on the Roof in 2017, the role of Young Ebenezer in Scrooge the Musical in 2018, and the role of Cardinal Frustenberg in a musical on Pope Wojtyla’s life in 2019. An aspiring tenor, Muscat has also been invited to perform the role of Parpignol in the opera La Bohème by Puccini, at the Aurora Theatre in Gozo in 2019. September 2021 has seen Angelo performing as Marco in the first ever Film-Opera production in Malta, ‘Blat’. In December of the same year, Angelo was invited to sing in the oratorio Guzeppi ta' Nazaret in collaboration with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, and in the annual MPO Christmas Concert held at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mdina.
Muscat has participated in various international concerts beyond our shores, including the UK, Italy, Austria and Bulgaria. In 2020 Muscat was chosen among ten singers from all over the world to work and study with renowned singers such as Krum Galabov and Daniela Diakova in Sofia, Bulgaria. Shortly after, he was invited to sing at a recital at the Boris Christoff House Museum. In September 2021, Muscat was invited to perform in a concert with the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Mro. Arkady Feldman at the Music Hall Jumeirah Zabeel Saray in Dubai. In November 2022 Muscat was given a scholarship to further his studies on German Lied and Opera with Prof. Juliane Banse at the Wolfgang Sawallish Stitfung, in Grassau, Germany.
Recently, Angelo has been receiving notable international success. In October 2021, he was the winner of the Audience Award in the Royal Sound Music Competition, winning also first place. In that same month, Angelo went on to win the Star Award for the Best vocal Performance of Russian Music and an overall second place in the Classical Singing Category in the Eighth International Performing Arts Competition - Stars of Albion. In September 2022, he has won 3rd place in the Medici International Music Competition in
London, UK. In 2023, he has won the 1st place in the 3rd Edition of the Christmas Carols & Masterpieces Competition, Romania.
Regarded as being one of the promising upcoming tenors, Angelo Muscat is currently furthering his studies at Trinity College London of Music, doing his Licentiate Diploma. Muscat attended masterclasses led by diverse pedagogues and singers such as Jose Cura, Miriam Gauci, Eteri Lomoris, Dr. Andriana Yordanova, Prof. Carlos Conde Gonzáles, Prof. Juliane Banse, and many more. He studied with Prof. Michaela Sburlati at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome, after winning a scholarship in 2021.
Jeremy Grech
Actor
Jeremy Grech is a local artist and tourist guide who has been passionately performing for almost a decade. His passion for storytelling and history has brought him closer to creating new concepts and is grateful to be doing what he loves. His most notable roles in theatre were in Sette (Teatru Malta), The Bards Farewell (ZiguZajg) and Ellie (Teatru Manoel). In the last couple of years, he created Theatourism which is the beautiful marriage of Theatre and Tourism. This venture has led him to create a memorable theatrical tour at Teatru Manoel, the Mosta Rotunda and other localities. Apart from being a theatre practitioner and guide, Jeremy is also a drama tutor with a passion for the italian form of art Commedia dell' Arte. Il-Pirata, as locally nicknamed, has trained professionally with Teatru Manoel under the tutorship of Denise Mulholland, the Drama Centre with several tutors and quite recently with theatre veteran Narcy Calamatta. His main aim as an artist is to make theatre and history more accessible to a wider audience and also pass on his enthusiasm to the audiences that come to his shows!
