Five Minutes with Florian Riem

We caught up with Florian Riem, newly appointed Secretary General of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) in Geneva, and a familiar face to AAPPAC having been a member of our Executive Council from 2016 to 2019 when he was the Chief Executive Officer of Tongyeong Concert Hall. 

Tell us more about WFIMC and what you are looking forward to the most in your new role as the Federation’s Secretary General in Geneva.

The Federation is a really unique organisation. It brings together around 120 international competitions, from the famous ones like the Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth, Cliburn or Chopin Competitions to much smaller ones in all corners of the world. There are also quite a number of members in Asia- Pacific: in China, Korea, Japan as well as in South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. As Secretary General, I will be in touch with all of them- a truly international task- to maintain relations and communications, direct our marketing, and organise conferences.

On the other hand, my new job might turn out to be quite different from what I thought it would be. While none of our member competitions folded completely and the outlook for the coming years is still good, current travel and immigration restrictions will fundamentally alter the way we used to work, communicate and meet in person. An international organisation like the WFIMC will be particularly affected by the long-term effects of the pandemic. So, while I am really excited to move to Switzerland, I am also a bit anxious about what the future will bring.

Portrait

Prior to your new appointment with WFIMC, you were Chief Executive Officer of Tongyeong Concert Hall for the past seven years. What will you miss the most about working in this beautiful venue in South Korea?

The ocean, the islands, and the sunshine all year-round! Driving to work in the morning looking at the deep blue sea, the sun glittering on the waves, the hundreds of islands- it´s hard to find a better place. It completely changes your mood, even if you have a bad day.

I love mountains and snow, but I certainly could do without the cold, wet, grey European winter. We used to say, in Southern Germany the sun sets sometime in October and does not come back out until May…. That´s not quite true, but there certainly are lots of foggy, chilly, dark mornings throughout the winter months, when you don´t want to go out at all.

Jogging along the Tongyeong Seaside

Florian Riem as Narrator in “Peter oa Nukde“ (Peter and the Wolf) with the Tongyeong El Sistema Childrens Orchestra

You’ve worked with many orchestras all over the world, in what way do you think these experiences have helped to guide you to where you are today in your career?

Orchestras are like microcosms, like small communities with many different personalities. They have their own hierarchies, their problems, confrontations, struggles. Leading an orchestra requires lots of energy and sometimes causes stress without end, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. You learn to listen. You learn to become patient. You learn to mediate.

AAPPAC has certainly benefited a lot from your active contribution to the Association as CEO of Tongyeong Concert Hall and Member of the Executive Council from 2016 to 2019. What is your fondest memory of the 2015 AAPPAC Conference in Tongyeong?

The 2015 conference was quite an adventure. AAPPAC was completely new to me and I had only visited the Singapore meeting the year before. Then some other city cancelled, and the question came up whether Tongyeong could host during the following year. I was excited, and I am still so grateful for Douglas and the EXCO to trust us and come to Korea. Many of you will still remember: Tongyeong has a great venue, beautiful scenery and moving seafood on your plate, but international hotel chains had somehow missed out on building a half way decent hotel in town. After all the Mandarins, Hyatts and Hiltons in Singapore the year before, it must have come as quite a shock to the members. We tried to make up for this with a variety of Korean meals, though, and I think our Champagne sponsor Perrier-Jouet was a welcome diversion from lengthy meetings.

We read that you were originally a cellist before your career in arts management! What do you love most about playing the cello?

They say the cello´s sound is the closest to the human voice among instruments, but I think that´s nonsense. On the other hand, your cello almost becomes a person, a partner for you. If you treat it well, it rewards you with beautiful sounds and a successful performance. But you have to work hard, also in a physical sense. One of the stickers on my cello case said: “Play it??? I can hardly carry it!”. A flight case with instrument weighs 18kgs. Carry that in a crowded airport or run with it if you are late for a concert, and you won´t need your membership at the fitness studio anymore.

Travelling with a cello is another subject, actually. I could write a book about being on the road with a cello…. One of my favourite stories as orchestra manager was a problem we encountered in Venice in 2001. We were booked on a flight with Alitalia Airlines to Rome. The orchestra had four cellists, and as part of our group ticket we had asked for four extra seats for their instruments, but Alitalia told us we could only take two, despite an otherwise empty plane. I was tour manager, and I had to decide what to do with the other two cellists: make them take a later flight? Take the train? Put the cellos in baggage? My Italian is not perfect, but I decided to take a challenge and told our travel agent to book tickets for two more persons- Antonio Stradivari and Nicolo Paganini. At Check-In I told an angry Italian lady that unfortunately Mr. Stradivari and Mr. Paganini were unable to travel this time, but if she could kindly give us the two seats for two extra instruments that need to go on the flight. Expectedly, she declined and told me that a cello was not a person and in any case a name change was not possible. Time to prove your negotiating skills, I thought, and began a lengthy argument that lasted 30 min and ended with the two cellos flying on the tickets of Mr. Stradivari and Mr. Paganini. I still have their boarding passes today….

List down 3 things you’ve learnt about yourself in 2020.

• I can cook a lot more different dishes than I thought I could.
• Two weeks of quarantine are a lot longer than you think.
• Take nothing for granted. Things will be different either way.

When you’re having a bad day, what do you do to make yourself feel better?

I look at my 4-month old daughter. She smiles at me, and all my worries are gone.