Curios thus gathering round maestro? (8)
I believe the answer is:
virtuoso
'maestro?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'curios thus gathering round' is the wordplay.
'curios' becomes 'virtu' (I've seen this before).
'thus' becomes 'so' ('so' can be a synonym of 'thus').
'gathering' is an insertion indicator.
'round' becomes 'o' (round can mean a round object**).
'virtu'+'so'='virtuso'
'virtuso' going around 'o' is 'VIRTUOSO'.
(Other definitions for virtuoso that I've seen before include "Brilliant -- prodigy" , "Person who excels in techniques of singing or playing music" , "Great musical performer" , "musical star" , "Very skilled artist" .)