Strada Stretta - Shadows of Music

The Strada Stretta Concept, under the auspices of the Valletta 2018 Foundation presents 'Strada Stretta - Shadows of Music', under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci.

For our first event of the year, Carlo Muscat & Elena Pogulyaeva will be holding a concert focusing on a French repertoire.

Repertoire including:
1. Maurice Ravel. Sonatina (3 parts)
2. Darius Milhaud. Scaramouch (third part)
3. Saint-Saens. The swan
4. Satie. Gymnopedie 1
5. Poulenc. Melancolie
6. Poulenc. Novelette n.3
7. Poulenc. Improvisations 7,13,15
8. Faure. Elegie
9. Ravel. Pavane pour une infante defunte.
10. Ravel. Piece en forme de Habanera
11. Jean Francaix. N 2 from Cinq Dances exotiques
12. Massenet. Meditation from Thais
13. Debussy. Petite piece for Clarinet

Born in 1988, on the island of Malta, Carlo began his musical education and explored his love for jazz music at the age of eleven. Little did he know that at some point he would be aspiring to the likes of Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano and Mark Turner, to name a few, in search of inspiration for his musical creations. Muscat describes his musical journey as an awakening process - one that is ceaseless, expressive and allows for freedom of interpretation. He made a name for himself through the local performances he gave around the island as he slowly began collaborating with renowned local and international musicians. In the year 2012, he was awarded a prestigious scholarship from Berklee School of Music and also had the opportunity to perform with and learn from Charles Gatt, founder of the Malta International Jazz Festival and a notable drummer. With his now diverse knowledge and extensive experience as a jazz saxophonist, he performs regularly at some local and international gigs and has gained exposure at prestigious venues around Europe, while continuing to collaborate with the who's who of the Maltese and European jazz scene.

The Parisian music scene led to the creation of his first album for The Sound Catalogues Vol.1 - Extraordinary Episodes, featuring the likes of Mátyás Szandai, Sandro Zerafa, Daniele Raimondi, Joe Debono and Lionel Boccara. The group had worked on a collaborative project earlier, which was presented at the Malta Jazz Festival, honed and guided under the eminent guitarist, Sandro Zerafa. Apart from performing at these festivals, Muscat has performed at the prestigious Manoel Theatre in Malta, the renowned Sunset Sunside in Paris and the Nardis Jazz Club in Istanbul together with pianist Burak Bedikyan's trio.

A seasoned musician, Muscat is known for his fresh take on jazz music and his unabashed use of improvisation, making the tunes of his compositions markedly his own. His most recent album, Explorations, is an experimentation on extending the conventions of jazz music to incorporate a series of influences from other genres. He continues to work on subsequent volumes and to study music, exploring uncharted domains for him to develop upon.


Elena Pogulyaeva was born in 1988 in Slavuta, Ukraine. She started playing piano at the age of seven, at the Slavuta music school under the tutelage of I.M. Kantonistova and N.D. Chaika (1996-2004). Between the years 2003 and 2004, she was a student of the Honoured Artist of Ukraine, O.M. Verykivska, daughter of Ukrainian conductor and composer Mykhailo Verykivsky. In 2008, Pogulyava graduated from Kiev's 'Reinhold Glier' Music College under the tutelage of E.N. Tchernomorskaya and O.N. Dryga. Subsequently, she also graduated from the Ukrainian National Music Academy named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, in 2013, as a solo pianist, concertmaster, ensemble musician and piano teacher, under Professor E.I. Voznesenskaya and the Honoured Artist of Ukraine, A.M.Seredenko.

In 2016, Elena was a laureate and third prize winner of the DSCH International Piano Competition (Ukraine), named after D.D. Shostakovich, as well as laureate and second prize winner of 10th Sigismund Thalberg International Piano Competition in Naples, Italy. In April 2017, as part of the Malta International Music Festival, she participated in the piano competition, as well as in master classes by Pavel Gililov, Felix Gottlieb, Yoheved Kaplinsky and Valery Pyasetsky.

Her musical universe revolves mainly around the works of composers such as S. Prokofiev, F. Poulenc, J.S. Bach, R. Schuman, N. Medtner, D. Shostakovich, C. Franck, D. Scarlatti, J. Haydn, L. van Beethoven, as well as many others. Since the year 2013, Pogulyava has been actively performing with the Ukranian rock group Symfomania - the group has toured Ukraine extensively, and has always performed in some countries such as France, Russia, Lithuania, Turkey, Moldova, and Malta, playing both original material and covers.

With a primary focus on classical music and a total of twelve years of teaching experience, Pogulyava continues to tutor students of all ages in a variety of musical styles. Continuously expanding her repertoire, she remains in search of new music which inspires her and which best defines her musical character.

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Special thanks to Jason Masini & Splendid.