Dr Lydia Buttigieg is an accomplished and well-sought after musician, lecturer, researcher and musicologist in Malta. She is regularly engaged to perform in prestigious events, orchestral concert performances, solo recitals and premiering solo and orchestral works by Maltese and foreign composers. Her harp playing as taken her to perform at Official State Dinners, Ambassadors’ Annual State Dinners, prestigious Ceremony Awards, Inauguration of Grand Openings and dinners organised for the EU Maltese Presidency 2017. Most of these events were hosted at Verdala Palace, Auberge de Castille (Office of the Prime Minister), San Anton Palace, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Imdina, and Casino Maltese.
Apart from performing in various European countries, such as United Kingdom, Scotland, Greece and Germany, Lydia is the Principal Harpist with various local orchestras and wind bands, amongst the St. Paul Chamber Ensemble, the Philharmonic Wind Orchestra of Luqa and the St. Peter Philharmonic Wind Orchestra of Birżebbuġa.
Lydia is the founder member of the Venus Harp Trio which is gaining a steady reputation in Malta by presenting concert performances of a high calibre. The VHT performs regularly at public concerts, ceremonies, receptions and prestigious events.
Lydia pursued in record time a Doctorate degree from the University of Durham, UK, specialising in Musicology and Theoretical Analysis. For her research studies, Lydia was sponsored by the Janatha Stubbs Foundation. Graduating from one of the most prestigious universities in the UK, she also holds a number of performance diplomas, in both piano and harp, from the Trinity College of London and London College of Music. She also holds a Fellowship Diploma in Piano Accompaniment in which she was chosen by the examiner of the London College of Music to perform in the Annual Graduation Ceremony, in 2011 at the Casino Maltese in Malta.
Lydia specialises in theory of music, European history and analysis, research and editorial techniques, and performance practice. Her doctoral thesis focused on the life and works of Maestro Carmelo Pace (a prolific Maltese composer: 1906-1993). Dr Buttigieg’s traditional education in classical music and the unexplored wealth of music that is stored in Malta, amalgamated with her experience in performing, created the basis for her main research interest.
She is currently investigating and publishing peer-reviewed papers and academic articles on twentieth-century Maltese music literature and music education. As part of her academic lecturing, she is also supervising advanced students specialising in Musicology, Historical and Theoretical Analysis.
As part of her professional academic field of expertise, Lydia specialises in historical musicology and theoretical analysis where she is a full-time lecturer at the Malta School of Music. She has also been appointed Chief Examiner for the Medina Foundation for Music, where she is responsible for the Public Relations and Academic Research of the foundation. Her versatility and experience in performance and teaching spans over three decades.
Lydia has successfully completed a post-graduate certificate in Music Psychology in Education from the University of Sheffield.