When Lithuanian singer Eglė Pranaitytė relocated to Malta, it was perhaps only natural that she would look for opportunities that would enable her to remain musically active. Those more familiar with the local jazz scene will surely have seen her perform somewhere or other, collaborating with a rotating number of artists, and always with an eye of presenting something fresh to the audience.
Her latest project, launched less than a year ago, is the Organic Choir Malta. Inspired by her experience within the Dutch Organic Choir, Pranaitytė felt it would be an interesting challenge to set up a similar group here in Malta. Not that there aren't any choirs on the island, of course. On the contrary, there are many, but the concept of an organic choir is entirely different to the traditional choir format. The use of various 'forms' to create music, the spontaneity of composition and a strong element of improvisation are primary elements of what makes this kind of choir so different and, to an extent, quite unusual too.
Unrestrained by genre or style, organic choir singers are at liberty to express themselves freely and explore musical ideas as a collective, with leadership being 'rotated' and shared equally so that everyone gets to contribute their own ideas.
ROCKNA's Michael Bugeja recently interviewed Eglė Pranaitytė, Francesca Mercieca and Sarah Marie Bugeja from Organic Choir Malta ahead of the choir's debut live performance at Teatru Salezjan in Sliema on Friday, April 8, 2016. Click here for more information.
The current Organic Choir formation includes Eglė Pranaitytė, Sarah Marie Bugeja, David Aquilina, Justin Galea, Marie-Claire Dingli, Angela Vella Zarb, Francesca Mercieca, Sonja Stellini, Christian Debono, Sean Borg and Simone Scicluna.