AAPPAC welcomes two New EXCO Members and appoints a new Deputy Chair!
At the 2020 Annual General Meeting, AAPPAC Chairman, Douglas Gautier AM announced that Duncan Pescod stepped down as CEO of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and that AAPPAC’s Deputy Chair, Liu Ying (Xinghai Concert Hall) had assumed a new position as Chair of Guangdong Trade Association of Performances. With both esteemed individuals stepped down from their roles in the AAPPAC Executive Council (EXCO), a By-election was held earlier this year in April 2021, in accordance with the AAPPAC Rules of Association.
The AAPPAC Secretariat would like to congratulate Yong-min Lee, CEO of Tongyeong Concert Hall, and Joyce Y. Chiou, General and Artistic Director of National Taichung Theater on being elected as members into our current EXCO. We are also happy to announce that Yvonne Tham, CEO of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay has been appointed as AAPPAC’s new Deputy Chair.
Mr Yong-min Lee (CEO, Tongyeong Concert Hall)
Image courtesy of Tongyeong Concert Hall
As CEO of Tongyeong International Music Foundation (TIMF) and Tongyeong Concert Hall, Yong-min Lee has been playing a leading role in the growth of Tongyeong International Music Festival and Isang Yun Competition, and in constructing the Tongyeong Concert Hall and in attracting a branch of the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts to Tongyeong. He was an Executive Committee Member of the first Tongyeong International Music Festival in 2002, and later became the Secretary General of the festival, and the Artistic Planning Director of TIMF, before assuming the position of CEO in January 2021.
Yong-min Lee graduated and subsequently obtained MA in Music Education from Kyungnam University, and Ph. D. Candidate in Cultural Contents from Gyeongsang National University. He is also a professor at Kyungnam University with his expertise in the composer Isang Yun, organising festivals, and cultural exchange between South and North Korea.
With this new appointment as an AAPPAC EXCO member, Mr Yong-min Lee hopes to be able to “play a practical role in cultural exchange and development in the Asia-Pacific region”.
Get to know more about Yong-min Lee in our interview feature here.
Ms Joyce Y. Chiou (General and Artistic Director, National Taichung Theater)
Image courtesy of National Taichung Theater
Following her rigorous studies for music education in Taiwan, Joyce Y. Chiou received training in music and drama from the University of Illinois and Northern Illinois University in the United States. In the early 90s she produced and directed many Western operas at the Taipei Arts Festival and the Taiwan Music Festivals (both indoor and outdoor) such as La Traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca, Hansel and Gretel, Otello, Pagliacci, Mozart and Salieri, and Suor Angelica.
Between 1987 and 1995, she set up the first ever opera workshop for professional singers for the National C.K.S. Cultural Center in Taiwan and has produced over two dozen operas, children’s theatre, and mega outdoor concerts. Chiou was the Executive Director of Taiwan Philharmonic (a.k.a. the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan) for 12 years (Jun 2006 – Jun 2018). As a playwright, Chiou’s work includes Opera: Heart Sutra (in English, based on Eileen Chang’s short story, 2012), and The Black Bearded Bible Man (in English & Taiwanese, 2010), and the Chinese musicals: The Fantasticks (Chinese version), and Women Needs Love, Not To Be Understood.
Chiou is also active in theatre circles; she was the producer of the International Stage-reading Festival in Taiwan in 2004 and 2005. Her writings include books A Beautiful Mistake–Biography of Lee, Tai-Shan, Praised for Passion, Lived Without Regrets–Biography of Lee, Yung-Kang, a single volume of encyclopaedia on Western musicals: From West End to Broadway, Show Time! – 9 Styles of Musicals and Behind the Mask—Phantom of the Opera.
Since Jun 2018, Chiou commenced her tenure at National Taichung Theater (NTT) as General and Artistic Director. Under her leadership, NTT has become a culture hub of both local communities and international outreaches, an unneglectable artistic force in the Asian performing arts circle.
Chiou believes in the importance of coming up with the “blueprint of what “future theatre” should be like”, particularly in a fast-growing and changing digital era. As part of the AAPPAC EXCO, she hopes to “spark imagination and creativity by providing a platform where all the visions, ideas and experiences can be shared and exchanged”.
Get to know more Joyce better in our interview feature here.
Yvonne Tham (CEO, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay) appointed as AAPPAC Deputy Chair
Image Courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
Following the appointment of Yong-min Lee and Joyce Y. Chiou as EXCO members, the new EXCO elected from amongst themselves Yvonne Tham from Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay as AAPPAC’s Deputy Chair, to lead alongside our Chairman, Douglas Gautier AM.
Yvonne is the CEO of Esplanade where she is responsible for the overall management and programming direction of Esplanade, as a performing arts centre for everyone. Prior to Esplanade, Yvonne was the Deputy CEO at Singapore’s National Arts Council and the Director of Arts and Heritage Division at the then-Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. From 2002 – 2009, she was involved in the development of policies such as the Renaissance City plans, as well as the setting up of the pre-tertiary School of the Arts, the Design Singapore Council, and the National Gallery. Yvonne had brief stints at the Ministry of Manpower in the area of labour relations and welfare, and taught literature in a Junior College. She has a BA and MPhil in literature from the University of Cambridge, and an MA in Art Business degree with the Sotheby’s Institute.
Check out our interview feature with Yvonne back in 2018 here!
Yvonne Tham, Yong-min Lee, and Joyce Y. Chiou will assume their respective appointments with immediate effect, for the remainder of the current EXCO’s term to 21 Sep 2022, or the end of the 2022 Annual General Meeting, whichever is later. The Secretariat would also like to express our appreciation for Duncan Pescod and Liu Ying for their contribution and support as EXCO members since 2019 and wish them the best in their new endeavours!