Dr. Mro. Dion Buhagiar - Director

Dion Buhagiar studied counterpoint and orchestration with Carmelo Pace and piano, organ and harmony with Rev. Carmelo Scerri and P. Albert Borg OSA. Later he studied with Prof. Richard Latham at the Royal College of Music, London where he obtained the ARCM. From the University of Toronto, Canada, he earned the B.Mus. and the postgraduate degree B.Ed. in music pedagogy. On a Commonwealth scholarship, he obtained the M.Mus degree from the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario and finally the Ph.D. on a project developed with Prof. Floyd Grave - the Head of the postgraduate Music Department at Rutgers University, New Jersey in USA.

A gifted and versatile musician, he is active in many fields. He lectures in the Music Studies Programme of the University of Malta and is also Maestro di Cappella of the Mdina Cathedral and St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta.

Dion Buhagiar is a perspective musician and conductor particularly in the field of organ music and old Maltese music which he edits and presents in revival concerts. As a choirmaster, he has founded the Collegium Musicum, the Collegium Aureum and the University Vocal Ensemble. With all three choirs he presented numerous outstanding concerts.

Dr. Buhagiar is an organist of technical ability, extensive repertoire and sensitive interpretational skills. He has studied for five years in Toronto with Professor Douglas Bodle who is an outstanding internationally acclaimed interpreter of Baroque music. As a composer, his oeuvre of primary vocal music is mainly determined by the liturgical services and national functions held in the two cathedrals in Malta. Many and diverse liturgical services are held annually which demand the constant composition of new sacred works.

Overall his compositional style seeks to emphasize a lyricism and a fervent harmonic idiom that are inspired by his search for a faithful and respectful interpretation of the sacred text.