Luis Amadeo Pares' father came to Australia from Spain. Showing a talent for music in his youth, Pares went to Sydney were he studied under Cyril Monk. In Brisbane Pares opened 'The Hall of Muses', was publisher of The Muses Magazine and in 1927 organised a performance in which 1,300 violinists took part, an event which received coverage in journals in England, Europe and the United States. [Source: I Fiddled the Years Away]