Home | Modern Composers • International Music Festival | Modern Composers • International Music Festival
Modern Composers
International Music Festival
Joseph Vella:
Joseph Vella:
“As you know, unlike any other form of artistic expression, music does not ‘live’ until it is performed.”
The Composer in a 2012 interview with the Malta Independent
Qigang Chen
Qigang Chen
“His compositions display real inventiveness, very great talent and a total assimilation of Chinese thinking to European musical concepts.”
Olivier Messiaen
Georgs Pelecis
Georgs Pelecis
“Music is written for one or two main reasons:either to make some intellectual address to the listener,or for the sake of music itself. I feel closer to the second.All my creative inspiration comes from music, the nation of euphony as an embodiment or reflection of the ideal. Aspiration to that ideal is the most important theme of my work.”
www.music.lv
Alexander Tchaikovsky
Alexander Tchaikovsky
“One of the most highly respected composers at work in contemporary Russia.”
Toccata Music
Karl Jenkins
Karl Jenkins
“As a composer he recognises no boundaries – musical, commercial,geographical or cultural. His is a way of thinking and composing that is perfectly in tune with the spirit of the times.”
Classic FM
Tigran Mansurian
Tigran Mansurian
“Today Mansurian is recognized across the world for the integrity of his art: Delicately beautiful, touchingly humane and compassionate without a hint of pathos, with its architectural unity and pithy eloquence subtly intimating its creator’s inner strength.”
Culture Spot LA
Giya Kancheli
Giya Kancheli
“Kancheli’s scores, deeply spiritual in nature, are filled with haunting aural images, varied colours and textures, sharp contrasts and shattering climaxes. His music draws inspiration from Georgian Folklore and sings with a heartfelt, yet refined emotion.”
Bruce Duffie
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
“When I conduct my own compositions I can try and guide each part of the piece to the ideal,which I created in my head when I composed it ( …) Only I know how long each part of the part should last, how quickly it should develop.”
Johnny Greenwood, Radiohead

About Modern Composers

The Modern Composers International Music Festival (ModComFest) was launched in 2016, followed by editions in 2019 and 2022. Dedicated to promoting modern and contemporary composers, the festival has earned widespread acclaim for highlighting innovative voices and enriching the classical music canon.

Returning in September and October 2025, the fourth edition will take place in Paris, honouring French-Armenian composer Michel Petrossian, known for blending ancient traditions with modern innovation. Set in iconic venues like the Petit Palais and Théâtre de Saint-Maur, the festival will feature renowned ensembles and artists, including cellist Alexander Chaushian, Musicatreize, and Ensemble 2e2m, with conductors Roland Hayrabédian and Bruno Mantovani.

Konstantin Ishkhanov
President
of Modern Composers
International Music Festival

“The Modern Composers International Music Festival represents a great project for classical music and culture all around the world. It started in 2016 and continued in 2019 and 2022, joining forces with a number of acclaimed organisations and institutions so as to better work towards its goals. All of us within the organising committee are very proud to be able to collaborate with these prestigious ensembles with joy and optimism towards the world of arts and culture, which brings unique values and opportunities to all classical music lovers worldwide”

History of ‘Modern Composers’

Inaugural edition · 2016

The Modern Composers International Music Festival, previously known as Festival of Modern Composers, took place for the first time in Malta between the 6th and 9th of October 2016 at the Robert Samut Hall in Floriana, Malta, with Maltese composer and conductor Joseph Vella as Composer-In-Residence.

Read more →

2019 Edition

In 2019, organisers were proud to announce the 3rd edition of the Modern Composers International Music Festival, known in that year as the Contemporary Classics Composers’ Festival. The festival took place in the Armenian capital of Yerevan from the 1st to the 9th of November and involved eight concerts which were hosted at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall.

Read more →

2022 Edition

Throughout 2022, the Modern Composers International Music Festival dedicated an edition to the life and works of the distinguished Latvian composer and musicologist Georgs Pelēcis, in honour of the 75th anniversary of his birth.

Read more →