Who is Monica Curro?
I’m an orchestral violinist, chamber musician, recitalist, festival director, curator, teacher, tutor, mentor, fundraiser, commissioner of new work, advocate and lobbyist for music education for people of all ages, partner of a genius, and somehow the mother of a marine science university student (insert perplexed shrug emoji here).
What would you do differently from what you do now?
I have always wondered about having done Arts, Politics, Law or even Classics to have a career in something deliciously wordy or academic instead of music performance, which can get a bit stressful – weird hours, always having to be at your best, worrying about perfection, feeling like an endangered species (like all artists in Australia). I’m also obsessed with visual arts and would have loved to have been a curator or gallery director – there’s something so attractive about the heavenly silence of it after a life in music.
Who inspires you and why?
My brilliant partner (pianist, artistic director and composer) Stefan Cassomenos – he has 10 brains and an endless capacity for hard work, amazing ideas, empathy and kindness. My climate warrior daughter Matilda who is my polar opposite – calm, self-sufficient, diligent, organised – I want to be more like her! Also my sister Sarah, who spends her entire life making everyone else’s better.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
I’m hell bent at the moment on getting excellent music education back in the curriculum, especially for students in regional and rural Victoria, and also building the first regional conservatorium in Victoria (we have zero, NSW has 17). We are well on the way!
Favourite holiday destination and why?
In Australia I have to say Brisbane, where my large and chaotic family gathers every Christmas. Overseas I would say Rome – don’t know why but I feel it’s my spiritual home. Also any bleak beach in winter, especially in Southwest Victoria on the Great Ocean Road.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery in Langwarrin – it’s an enormous and magical place with an insane collection of outdoor and indoor sculptures, it has an art gallery that always has breathtaking exhibitions, and one of the best cafes anywhere for lunch.
If we don’t have time to make that trip then it’s the Australian Tapestry Workshop in South Melbourne – there’s always some epic artwork on the loom being created by a team of master weavers – there’s nowhere like it in the world.
What are you currently reading?
The Shortest History of Music by Andrew Ford. He is so many things – composer, author, broadcaster, and a great citizen in our music ecosystem. I’m interviewing him in October as part of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, at which Stefan and I are Co-Artistic Directors.
What are you currently listening to?
I mainly listen to music for work – if I have to learn something, or program something or hire someone. When music is your job, it tends not to have the relaxing effect that most people seek from it. If I needed to listen to something to make me feel good, it would be Wynton Marsalis and JALCO, or The Vaudeville Smash. I am also watching the most recent and fabulous Australian Youth Orchestra concert (which I missed because it clashed with my mum’s 80th birthday in Brisbane) at the Australian Digital Concert Hall.
Happiness is?
Just around the corner
What does the future hold for you?
Multiple projects successfully implemented with the help of my natural insomnia, my secret weapon Stefan, a belief in music education and participation for all, and relentless optimism.
Monica is a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and will be the Creative Director of the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp in January 2025. For more information, visit: www.ayo.com.au for details.
Image: Monica Curro (supplied)