Most people walking along Old Bakery Street in Valletta would never guess what sits behind one particular door. Hidden there is the apse of St Augustine’s Priory, a restored 16th-century space that almost no visitor gets to see. On 14th March, it becomes the setting for something quietly unusual.
Sip & Listen is a new concert series built around a simple idea: classical music in an intimate historic setting, with a glass of prosecco in hand and none of the stiffness that sometimes keeps people away. The opening night, Rhythms of Fire: Spanish Passion for Music, brings pianist Ramona Zammit Formosa into the priory apse for an hour of Spanish and South American music that moves between elegance, melancholy, and pure drama. If you are planning a culture-focused trip, it fits naturally into the wider rhythm of Malta in March 2026.
The Programme
Ramona opens with Enrique Granados’ Danzas Españolas, music full of Spanish colour and dance rhythms, but refined through the language of the concert piano. From there, the evening moves through Federico Mompou’s Canción y Danza, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, and Ernesto Lecuona — composers whose work sits somewhere between the recital hall and the street, between restraint and heat.
The programme closes with three tangos by Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine composer who gave tango a darker, more modern voice. In a stone apse lit for an evening performance, that should be rather special.
The Venue
St Augustine’s Priory Apse is not the sort of place most tourists accidentally find, which is part of the appeal. The building dates back to the 16th century, the same era that shaped so much of Valletta’s character. There is also a neat historical logic to the programme: the Spanish thread running through the music feels entirely at home in a city so marked by that wider Mediterranean world.
What makes the evening even more interesting is that it does not end with the recital. Tickets also include access to the archaeological site and courtyard, a 16th-century chapel and priory remains, a World War II air raid shelter beneath the building, and the crypt and ossuary below. It turns a concert into something closer to an experience.
Q & A with Miriam Agius : event coordinator
What made Spanish music the right choice for the opening concert of the series — was that Ramona’s idea, or did the programme come together another way?
Ramona is one of my closest collaborators – we have been friends through music for 20 years and she has been dreaming of creating this programme of Spanish fiery music for a quite a while now. Besides the beautiful music of Spanish piano repertoire, this music is hardly ever performed on piano in Malta – so this will be quite unique as well.
For a tourist who wanders into one of the lunchtime concerts at Our Lady of Victory not knowing what to expect — what do they usually say afterwards?
People love the lunchtime concerts, some say it is the highlight of their day/ stay. Let me share an email we have received from one of our guests who was kind enough to spend a few minutes of his time to give us this feedback.
Practical Details
When: Saturday 14 March 2026, 7:30pm Where: St Augustine Priory Apse, Old Bakery Street, Valletta Price: €30 suggested donation, prosecco included Tickets: [email protected] / [email protected] / +356 7968 0952
Tickets are also available directly from the venue. Numbers are limited, and in a space like this that is very much the point.
An additional testimonial by a tourist attending one of these events :
If this is your kind of evening, you may also want to browse my wider guides to walking Valletta, what else is happening in Malta this March, and the broader calendar of cultural events in Malta.
