j u s t o u t ▼ a p r ii 2 1 . 1 0 0 9 ▼ 1 5
L over of the C lassics
Monica Huggett’s interests are grounded in tradition
while her achievements are cutting-edge
,
by Inga Sorensen
photos by Linda Kliewer
ometimes those at the very top of their fields have
dreams, too.
S
“My girlfriend and I dream of getting a Tudor farm
house in Dorset,” muses the London-bom-and-bred
Monica Huggett, a professed lover of classical music
and one of the world’s great masters of baroque violin.
Somehow it is not surprising that the 41-year-old artist, who
performs the music of the baroque period (classified by music
scholars as the period beginning as early as 1570 in Italy and
ending during the second half of the 18th century with the deaths
of Bach and Handel in 1750 and 1759, respectively), would find
herself attracted to the historic. "If your home is very old, you can
almost envision the musicians of the past playing the music that you
love. You can picture them there. It’s very spiritual.”
Perhaps Huggett, who is the artistic director designate of the
Portland Baroque Orchestra, can be described as an ambassador
whose responsibility it is to meld past with present. Her interests
are grounded in tradition (most notably her passion for early music
and historic homes), while her achievements are remarkably cut
ting-edge. On the day of our interview, the cherubic-faced Huggett
was savoring the sun in California’s coastal town of Santa Cruz, her
first visit to the beach enclave where bikini-clad women can be
found playing volleyball every day of the week. With English
accent, she spoke not of playing sports in the sand, but of playing
the violin from the age of six. She spoke of Mozart, of Europe, of
being one of the few women conductors of early music, and of
being a lesbian.
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