Biography of present Band Director :
Mro Ronnie Debattista A.Mus.LCM;L.Mus.LCM;FLCM



Born in 1957, Ronnie Debattista soon established himself as a leading clarinet player, composer and a model conductor. In 1991 he graduated as Fellow in compositon from the London College of Music. Some of his works have been performed  by the National Orchestra and different symphony bands, amongst which “Fanfarre and Theme” composed and performed in the year 2000 in honour of the President of Malta, His Excellency Prof. Guido de Marco, and the suite “Antonio Sciortino”, composed for the first time in October 1997 on the 50th anniversary of the death of the famous Maltese sculptor of international fame – Antonio Sciortino. As conductor he distinguished himself by winning on two occasions the National Bands’ Competiton, 1989 with the “St.Mary” Band of Mosta and in 1993 with the “De Rohan” Band of Zebbug. In 1999 he set up the Valletta Clarinet Quartet that performed locally and overseas in the EuroTreffMuzik Festival in Walldurn and in Tubingen, Germany, always under his direction. He is very active as a music instructor with several young maltese performers and conductors seeking his teaching and coaching prior to qualifying from English Music Institutes.

With the “Sliema” Band he has already distinguished himself as a composer and conductor. In March 2002 he conducted the band in its annual concert with the innovation of works for piano and symphony band, the famous “Warsaw” Concerto and his own arrangement of “The Legend of the Glass Mountain”. He reached a unique success in the two concerts performed by the “Sliema” Band in Predazzo and Pampeago in the Val di Fiemme, Trentino, Italy, in August 2002. His own work “Fanfarre and Theme” has now been included in the repertoire of the Banda Sociale Erminio Deflorian of Tesero, Trentino, Italy.

In August 2003 Mro Ronnie Debattista led the “Sliema” Band in its memorable concerts in Brussels and The Hague while in the special 80th Anniversary Concert he conducted world renowned Bulgarian tenor Kaludi Kaludow, and led the band in the premiere of his highly acclaimed composition “Approaching New Horizon”.