Jo Beaumont
Jo Beaumont attended Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School in 1961-1962 and was school Vice Captain. She studied violin from the age of 5, was selected for the Australian Youth Orchestra at 14 and was leader of that Orchestra at the Adelaide Festival of Arts in 1966.
She graduated in Physiotherapy from the University of Melbourne and practised that profession in London before graduating in advanced violin studies in Italy.
She became a member of various Italian chamber orchestras in Naples, Florence, Como and Brescia, travelling worldwide with these ensembles for several years.
In 1977, she won the competition to become Deputy Leader of the Orchestra of La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy. She held this position for 20 years. During this time, she was selected by Maestro Claudio Abbado to be an inaugural member of I Solisti della Scala. She worked extensively with other famous conductors including Riccardo Muti, Carlos Kleiber, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel and Georges Solti.
She had extensive experience as a chamber musician. She formed her own string quartet and headed master classes in Brazil.
Beginning her teaching career at the Conservatorium in Cagliari in Sardinia, Jo was appointed as Professor of Violin at the Milan Verdi Conservatorium of Music, a position she held for 23 years.
Returning to Australia in 2000, Jo was String Co-ordinator at Australian National Academy of Music and she led the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House during the Sydney Olympic Games Arts Festival. Later that year, she was appointed Concertmaster and Artistic Director of Orchestra Victoria. She held these positions for 10 years.
From 2011, besides continuing as a freelance violinist, she has been Artistic Consultant at the Melbourne Recital Centre, The Melba Opera Trust and has worked extensively as a panel member for the Australian Youth Orchestra and ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards. For 10 years, she was a Board member for Melbourne Youth Music.