Marshall arrives at MRC

Marshall McGuire has made the switch to head of artistic planning at Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) in Southbank.

With a wealth of experience as both a musical curator and performer, Mr McGuire arrives at MRC having managed all classical music programming at the Arts Centre since 2012.

Having also performed at the venue as a guest harpist and with his own ensemble Ludovico’s Band, he said he was looking forward to bringing a unique perspective to his new role.

“From a performer’s point of view I know how the rooms react and how the acoustics work having performed here, which is an absolute joy,” he said.

“I really do think that it’s the best place to play music in the country and I know it’s easy to say that now because I’m working here but everyone that comes here is just rapturous about it and that’s very special.”

Prior to his role with the Arts Centre, Mr McGuire held a number of prestigious planning and curating positions, which included roles with the Sydney Opera House, Orchestra Victoria and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

Mr McGuire possesses a long association with Southbank having also studied at The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and said that, in many ways, he felt like he was returning home.

“I remember when this area that we’re sitting in right now was just a car park when I was studying,” he said.

“There is a different energy here because, at the Arts Centre you feel adjacent to the city, whereas here you feel it is one step removed a little bit, and yet sitting here the Arts Centre is right on our doorstep.”

“What I find is that I’m exploring different parts of Southbank that I wouldn’t have before. It’s a different neighbourhood as it’s connected to the city in a different way.”

And he said it’s the community-orientated aspect of his new role that he is looking forward to taking advantage of most in his quest to help reinforce the venue’s status as Melbourne’s home of music.

Working with a passionate and experienced team spearheaded by CEO Mary Valentine, Mr McGuire said he and his colleagues were focused on engaging with audiences to provide the best experience possible.

“I love meeting audiences and I love talking to them,” he said. “I like trying to find out why they come to concerts and I think the performer in me helps with that a little bit too, to engage with those audiences.”

“It’s a matter of reaching out to promoters and presenters and individual artists and small groups to ask them what they want to do and how can it work best here?”

While he is still busy settling into his new role, he said he was quickly adapting to life at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

He said he hoped to build on the venue’s diverse range of musical offerings and invited anyone with a love for music to come and experience something different.

“I’d like to think that the foundation and platform of what we do is really broad and there are always things that we haven’t thought of that we can present here,” he said.

“It’s a place for audiences and performers to come to just have a conversation about music and I do hope what we are providing is that opportunity to travel between genres and to try something that you don’t know.”

Southbank Local News wishes Marshall all the best in his new role at the Melbourne Recital Centre.