Presented by the Royal College of Music
Batera Duo hails from two sister islands in the Maltese archipelago, being formed by Gozitan saxophonist Philip Attard and Maltese pianist Christine Zerafa. Philip and Christine gave their debut as a duo in April 2012, and since then they have been invited to perform in major festivals and venues, including the Embassy Series in Washington D.C., the Malta Arts Festival, the Royal Albert Hall (Elgar Room) and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Individually, Philip and Christine have been regular performers in Malta and overseas and have appeared as soloists and chamber musicians in Spain, France, Austria, Italy, England and Poland. Both Philip and Christine have been recipients of various awards, including the national Young Musician’s Contest (Malta), the 11th Bice Mizzi Competition (Malta), the RNCM Clifton Helliwel Memorial Award (U.K), the RCM Jane Melber Saxophone Competiton (U.K.) and the Scott Huxley Competition (U.K.). They have recently been awarded the Ensemble Prize in the VFIMF International Competition in 2013.
While performing extensively, Philip and Christine have also been furthering their musical training. Philip commenced his saxophone studies in Gozo under the tutorship of saxophonist Joseph Vella and has just finished his B.A.(Hons) degree with firstclass in Music from the University of Malta and at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence (Italy), majoring in saxophone performance under the tutelage of Godfrey Mifsud and Roberto Frati. He has also participated in regular master classes with saxophonist Fabrizio Mancuso in Paris. Christine studied in Malta with pianist Joanne Camilleri before furthering her studies overseas. She read for a Masters degree (MMus) in solo piano performance at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (U.K) under the tuition of Paul Janes and Norma Fisher, and later studied with Andrea Lucchesini as part of the Corso di Perfezionamento at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Florence. As a duo, Batera Duo have participated in master classes with various international chamber musicians, including Tiziano Mealli, Fabrizio Mancuso, Antonino Mollica, Federico Mondelci, Godfrey Mifsud, Roberto Frati, Michael Dussek and Ian Brown.
Christine and Philip are currently based in London, where they are furthering their studies and performing extensively. Philip is reading for a MMus degree in performance with saxophonist Kyle Horch at the Royal College of Music, while Christine is reading for a MMus specialising in piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music under the tuition of Michael Dussek and Malcolm Martineau.
Christine and Philip are very grateful for the support of the Malta Arts Fund, Silverstone Foundation, Janatha Stubbs Foundation, Gilling Family Scholarship and the Malta Arts Scholarship throughout their studies.