My Career: Festival director Anna Lardi

Did you always want to be CEO of a music organisation?
To be honest, I have wanted to be many different things, which, in my view, is kind of a necessary qualification for this sort of job. But in there, of course, was my current role as CEO of a music organisation…

In college, I studied… to be a primary school teacher. Later, I went back to do a degree in the humanities with a focus on art history.

My most formative work experience was… working in the bowels of our local hospital, cleaning the beds of patients who had left the hospital or had left for good. People in that section get dirty beds in one door, have to strip and clean them, do them up again and shove them out another. Nobody says ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. Yet thanks to the great relationship among that team, it turned out to be a great experience. 

My first real job was… teaching a lovely third class in a small village called Magden, near Basel in Switzerland. Great colleagues and fab kids. It’s a long time ago, but I still think of them.

The most invaluable thing I learned early on in my career was… every job can be heaven or hell depending on who you are working with.

A common misconception about what I do is… that as CEO, I am not as involved in the creative process. 

My main responsibility in work is… the operational, artistic and strategic management of Music for Galway 

Do you have a career mentor or someone you look up to/seek advice from?
Yes, I do. It is great to be able to sound out other people and there is a small number of people that I would go to for sanity checks.  As we are about to deliver the biggest project in the history of the organisation, the nine-day cello festival Cellissimo, I am lucky to be able to sound out one very experienced person in this field. 

The biggest risk I have taken in my career so far is… some would say it was to not have planned it at all. As it is for so many in life, so it is with me professionally; I have sort of fallen into place. So far, so good!

I wake at… around 7am.

The first thing I do every morning is… take a drink of water and say hello to my husband.

My morning routine is… if there is such a thing; getting up, making muesli (you can take the girl out of the Alps but you can’t take the Alps… ) and head off to work, luckily on foot. 

I can’t go to work without… my glasses. This is a new thing and catches me out pretty badly.

I travel to work…. mostly on foot. I am in the lucky position of being within walking distance from our offices, currently at the University of Galway.

On an average workday…  I know it may not sound very original, but there is no average workday in my field.

I start my working day at… around 8-8.30am.

The first thing I do at work… depends on what is happening that day.

I usually spend the first portion of the day… checking emails, although I am trying to stay away from them before making up my mind about the day. I am just too curious as to what may be there. 

I break for lunch at… around 1pm and usually have cheese, crackers and fruit.

The most useful business tool I use every day is… my calendar; since there really is no daily routine, I would be lost without it. 

I save time by… using my mother’s trick of always leaving my travel case open for a few days before departure, that way I just throw stuff in when I think of it and I’m walking past, and then my pack is done.

I rarely get through my working day without… a moment in which I put aside 90 seconds for zero thought. I try and keep thoughts of pastries out of that. 

The best part of my day is… when something has been worked out, we have clarified how to proceed with a project, or how to arrange a specific event, and then there is calm as we are all working away on our tasks. 

The most challenging part of my day is… getting to the best part of my day, as above.

I know it’s been a good day if… I feel like celebrating with one of my standard guilty pleasures: a Lorges chocolate, a sauna or a pint in Tigh Neachtain. 

I usually end my day at… around 6pm; again, this can vary. When we have concerts, I might be out with the artists afterwards and it could last until around midnight. 

I switch off from work by… walking home, swimming, watching really silly TV, going to the cinema and watching anything from arthouse to blockbusters, playing the piano and violin (if my shoulder injury allows), yoga.

Before I go to bed, I… read.

I often prepare for tomorrow by… letting tomorrow be just that and staying in the moment. 

After a long work week, I destress by… swimming with my friends in the sea. We have been doing this for many years and I call it a benign brainwash. It really is that. I might go in all tense and some time later, I come out feeling that things have balanced themselves and have space to think about life rather than work. 

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is… walking from home to home two years ago. I set off from Galway and walked to Chur (in the east of Switzerland). For nearly all of the 72 days that I was walking, I had friends and family join me for short periods. Philip, my husband did more than a third with me as well. The preparation for it was nearly as satisfying as the walk itself. 

If you want to get into my line of work, my advice is to… be interested in as many things as you can: music, visual arts, architecture, literature, dance, theatre. Start getting experience in organising things too – be it in a student society or the scouts etc. Follow your heart with the choice of your degree and the rest will come.

I’ve just finished working on… these questions. I’m currently working on flying Cellissimo 2024 home, the first in-person edition of an international cello festival on the edge of Europe. The festival will span nine days and 46 different events including concerts, talks, masterclasses, a play, a documentary, a ramble through Inishbofin. It’s taking place from May 18th to 26th. See you there! 

The full Cellisimo programme and tickets are available at www.cellissimo.ie