Renzo Spiteri

About Renzo Spiteri

Renzo Spiteri is a sound artist, composer, percussionist, improviser and arts collaborator who has been active on the international arts circuit for over thirty years. Renzo’s work has focused on merging improvisation, electronics and field recordings within his artistic collaborations with musicians, contemporary dance choreographers, visual artists, theatre directors, spoken word artists and filmmakers. Originally from the Mediterranean island of Malta, but now based in Scotland, Renzo’s use of percussion is influenced by the Mediterranean, North African and Eastern cultures while his immersive sonic textures draw from Nordic minimalism. His engagement with natural phenomena, with special emphasis on the sea, coastlines, water and the natural world are a powerful source of inspiration while the combination of field recordings, percussion and electronics shape most of his sound art work which spans from solo and collaborative sonic events, to installations and multi-media creations.

Renzo has collaborated with a wide and diverse artistic spectrum that includes jazz and world music artists, contemporary dance and theatre companies, laptop and spoken word artists including Trilok Gurtu (India), Mercan Dede (Turkey), N’Faly Kouyate (Rep Guinea), Guo Yue (China), Dan Moore (USA), The Edinburgh String Quartet (Scotland), Idan Raichel (Israel), Dan Moore (USA), Joji Hirota (Japan), Akram Khan Dance Company, Contact Dance Company, ZfinMalta Dance Company (Malta), Cappella Mediterranea (Spain), Thomas Agergaard (Denmark), Pedro Rebelo (Portugal), Michael Alcorn (UK).

Within the wider context, he has performed in major international festivals (including Nordic Music Days (Faroe), WOMAD, Festival of the Desert, Future Everything Festival, Sonorities, Musica Viva, PASIC) and venues (Royal Festival Hall- London, Jerwood Hall LSO St. Luke’s- London, Sonic Arts Research Centre Belfast, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts- Washington DC, SOTA- Singapore, National Concert Hall- Dublin, Babylon Club- Istanbul, Ludwig Forum- Aachen, the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, TAK theatre – Berlin, Germany amongst others).

Renzo was appointed Malta’s national ambassador for the EU’s Year for Intercultural Dialogue 2008, artistic director and creative producer of the Malta World Music Festival (2016-2018) with a remit leading to Valletta Capital of Culture 2018, and trustee of Shetland Arts Development Agency (2020 - 2023). Currently, he is the artistic director of Jazz and World Sounds (Shetland) and Teatru Unplugged (Malta).

Renzo’s music has been played on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Shetland and London’s Resonance FM. He is an endorsed artiste for Schlagwerk Percussion (Germany), Yamaha Drums & Hardware (Europe), Paiste Cymbals & Gongs (Switzerland) and Tycoon Percussion (Thailand) and holds a Master of Arts degree (with distinction) in Sound Arts from Oxford Brookes University.

www.soundmigrations.com | www.renzospiteri.com