19 January 2026
Cultural Warriorship: NMC reflections from Media and Communication participant Mark Wilson
By Mark Wilson, AYO Media and Communication 2026
AYO’s 2026 National Music Camp started with a war cry. As the buzzing of over 260 participants quieted down on the first night, NMC Creative Director Monica Curro took to the stage to deliver her welcome speech. Sitting among my peers in Adelaide’s Elder Hall, I was struck with Curro’s powerful call to action: to “become a ferocious culture warrior”.
In describing AYO’s mission, Curro panned the lens out to the broader arts sector, citing that we are a part of a “multibillion dollar business”, with a recent contribution of $67.4 billion, and an economic growth that outpaced overall GDP growth. Curro then asked, despite these impressive statistics, why is it that some Australian musicians earn under $15,000 annually? Curro questions: “Why is it great in Australia to be an elite sportsperson, and something that’s viewed as some inaccessible ‘Tall Poppy’ to be an elite classical musician?” The battlefield had been set. Curro then supplied us with our munitions:
Collegiality, Community and Advocacy
Curro used these three words – collegiality, community and advocacy – to frame her strategy for winning this war. Whether it’s joining your union, saying yes to every playing opportunity (be it a small art gallery or grand concert stage) or engaging in the statistics to better understand your audiences, the path to victory is clear. These words have since become embedded within my own camp experience; reflecting back now, I can see how they’ve become woven into key moments.
Camp began with the NMC Media and Communication cohort ‘getting our sea legs,’ so to speak, our tutor Andrew Aronowicz leading workshops on topics such as creative storytelling, interviewing, and public presentation. Rolling deadlines and high word counts required us to fall back on the three principals outlined by Curro.
Collegiality, in collaborating with each other, drawing upon the diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences. Community, reveling in the festive and energising atmosphere of the National Music Camp – how special it was to sit in the middle of Elder Hall, witnessing the surround-sound of the NMC Choir and the Bishop Orchestra as they performed Borodin’s epic Polovtsian Dances. Advocacy, in discussing who our audiences as musicians are and how we can best represent the diversity of voices, and why effective communication about music can be such a powerful tool. A personal highlight for me was getting the chance to sit down with Monica Curro, to further discuss her rallying call for cultural warriors.
“We have to communicate what we do and why we do it, and what it’s for…it’s for everybody, music, the arts, they’re like oxygen for the soul.”
NMC Creative Director, Monica Curro
Industry insights
After a free day exploring the sights and surrounds of Adelaide, the Media and Communication team reconvened Sunday evening to conduct a check-in. An honest discussion about expectations, challenges, and learning moments allowed us to refocus, and prepare for the oncoming week. A visit to the ABC Adelaide Studios, and two online interviews with former AYO Words about Music participants – ABC Classic producer Sascha Kelly and ABC Classic presenter Alice Keath – proved inspiring and invigorating, as we discussed taking the skills we’ve gained from this course out into the ‘real world’.
On Thursday morning, Monica came into the Media and Communication’s office, to answer our burning questions and discuss her career. What was slated as a 45-minute talk soon turned into a two-hour conversation around artistry, philanthropy, and music. Curro’s themes of ‘collegiality, community, and advocacy’ shined in this session, as she gave us invaluable advice, and generously shared from her endless treasure trove of stories. Perhaps most important, was her closing thesis of leading life always with “unconditional love.”
This proved to be a full circle moment from [Monica’s] opening speech – we’ve been enlisted in this cultural war, yet our approach should be guided by compassion and empathy.
Mark Wilson, AYO Media and Communication 2026 participant
As we approach the end of the National Music Camp, I’m reminded of my conversation with Curro in Week One. I had asked her for advice on how to maintain the energy and motivation of this camp, as we prepare to step back into the ‘real world’ – jobs, study, and life awaits on the other side of camp.
Her advice was to “keep in touch with the AYO family”, whether that be with the friends made on camp, or even the AYO staff and tutors. I know now, within the Media and Communication cohort, and the wider cohort of performers, orchestral managers, sound engineers, and staff, that there’s a passionate network ready and willing to join in Monica Curro’s call to action.