What if retirement was a time to create, to be in a community with fellow artists?

In this episode of Your Creative Midlife, I talk with producer Christine La Monte about Viva Verdi!, the Oscar-nominated documentary she produced with Director Yvonne Russo. The film tells the story of aging musicians in Milan’s Casa Verdi, a home created by renowned composer Giuseppe Verdi. The home opened in 1902 and has since housed more than 1,500 artists.

The residents still teach, perform, sing, and mentor the next generation. Verdi himself said: “Among my works, the one I like best is the home that I have had built in Milan for accommodating old singers…that home is truly my most beautiful work.”

In This Episode You'll Learn:

→ How Casa Verdi is different from a traditional retirement home

→ The value of intergenerational exchange

→ The role music plays in extending quality of life, propose, and community.

About Christine La Monte:

Christine La Monte is the producer writer of Oscar®-nominated documentary VIVA VERDI! and former studio marketing executive at Disney, Universal and Orion Pictures, is the founder and president of La Monte Productions. As a producer, writer, and director, she’s known for independent films with international scope and cultural impact, creating powerful stories at the intersection of art, music and politics. Currently under the La Monte Productions banner, she has three Italian feature documentaries: VIVA VERDI! Academy Award® nominated for Best Song, “Sweet Dreams of Joy” by Nicholas Pike, is an intimate glimpse into the lives of the celebrated opera singers and musicians living out their “third act” while mentoring music students who live among them at Casa Verdi Milan, the home that Giuseppe Verdi built in 1896.

Resources Mentioned:

• Watch Viva Verdi: https://vivaverdithefilm.com/
• Learn more about Casa Verdi: https://www.casaverdi.it/en/
• Learn more about Christine La Monte: https://www.lamonteproductions.com/about/
• Listen to my interview with John-Morgan Bush, Dean of Juilliard Extension School: https://youtu.be/m-6R15awqJM

Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. And see more about Betsy Bush and her guests at www.yourcreativemidlife.com. Are you on your own artistic or creative journey? We want to know about you! Please contact us through the website. Dare to follow your muse!