Speaker Bios

This list will be updated as information becomes confirmed.

6.08.06: 3.00 pm: Keynote Speaker

Mr. LIN Hwai-min
Founder and Artistic Director of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Mr. Lin is one of the most renowned choreographers in Asia. He blends Chinese cultural elements with Western contemporary dance techniques in his choreography, creating a unique style that prompted the New York Times to acclaim: ''Lin Hwai-min has succeeded brilliantly in fusing dance techniques and theatrical concepts from the East and the West.'' Mr. Lin received the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1999), the so called ''Nobel Prize of Asia,'' an Honorary Award of Fellowship by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (1997) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Department of Culture of New York City (1996). As early as in 1983, he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in the World by Jaycees International. He is lately chosen as one of Asia's Heroes by TIME Asia in 2005.

6.09.06: 9:15 am: Touring Opportunities

(a) Mr. Yasuaki YAMASAKI
Mr. Yamasaki is currently the board member of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, President of the Kageboushi Theatre Company and Laughing Cats Co. Ltd.. Kageboushi Theatre Company presents original theatre performances for young people and families throughout Japan, while Laughing Cats Co. Ltd. produces productions for all ages. As a performing arts producer, Mr. Yamasaki is enthusiastic in promoting international projects and has produced more than 15 international collaborations with companies from countries including China, Korea, Canada, Scandinavia, Germany and Tanzania. He has also encouraged many international exchanges including projects in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Agency for Cultural Affairs. He has organized international festivals and was the executive producer of the Japan-China-Korea National Exchange in 2002. To recognize his contribution in promoting international cultural exchange since 1988, the Japanese government granted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Award to the Kageboushi Theatre Company in 2004.

(b) Mr. John LAMBERT
Founder and President of the John Lambert & Assoc. Inc., Mr. Lambert provides international representation and career development for contemporary performing arts companies, specializing in theatre, circus and mixed media. His company fosters the development of long-term relationships between artists and presenters, including co-productions and financial investment in the creative process. It is active in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia/Pacific. Mr. Lambert is currently one of the ISPA Board of Directors.

(c) Mr. KO Chi-sum
Mr. Ko is an experienced artist in theater, film and media. He has worked as scriptwriter, director, co-producer and executive producer in more than 70 movies. In 1995, Mr. Ko became the executive producer of Spring-Time Stage Productions Limited and one of his productions ''A Sentimental Journey'' was staged for a record-breaking one hundred consecutive performances in Hong Kong. His extensive touring experience in mainland China has also added to his versatile career. Currently, Mr. Ko is a member of the Tourism, Culture and Sports Sub-group of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Committee on Performing Arts of the Home Affairs Bureau. He is also the visiting artist and the consultant of the School of TV and Film of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the committee member of the Civil Education Team of the Home Affairs Department.

Moderator: Mr. Douglas GAUTIER
Mr. Gautier's career spans the arts, media and tourism in Asia Pacific and Europe. Currently he is the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, with artistic and administrative responsibility for this annual international arts event. Mr. Gautier's contribution to the Hong Kong arts scene dated back in the 1980s when he promoted classical music on Radio and directed operas on stage. He was formerly Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and currently the director of the South Australian Tourism Commission Board. Mr. Gautier has served on a number of boards and committees in Hong Kong and the region, including those of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, the Asian Cultural Council of the David Rockefeller Foundation. He is now the Vice Chairman of the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals.

6.09.06: 1.30 pm: Remaking of tradition - Music

(a) Mr. YAN Huichang
As Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Mr. Yan was conferred the title of National Class One Conductor at the First Professional Appraisal of China in 1987. He was appointed Principal Conductor-cum-Artistic Director of the Central Folk Orchestra of China upon graduating with a Bachelor's Degree with Distinction in 1983. His music career spanned the positions of Guest Conducting Professor of the China Conservatory of Music, Conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra and Folk Orchestra of the Beijing Concert Hall, Conductor and Head of the Research Centre, Department of Operatic Music of the Shaanxi Academy of the Arts, Resident Guest Conductor of Kaohsiung City Chinese Orchestra and Executive Committee member of China Nationalities Orchestra Society.

Moderator: Professor CHAN Wing-wah
A prominent figure in fine music in Hong Kong , Professor Chan is a composer, conductor, educator and administrator. His compositions include 6 symphonies and many orchestral and chamber works. His Symphonies 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 have been recorded by HUGO Productions. Professor Chan's research area is Asia's new music. His compositions won first prize in the 1981 International Double Reed Society Composition Contest, and the 1988 Yoshiro Irino Award from the Asian Composers' League. He was named Composer of the Year in 1991 by the Hong Kong Artists Guild. Professor Chan is the Chairman of the General Council of the Composers & Authors Society of Hong Kong. He also held the chairmanship of the Hong Kong Composers' Guild for more than ten years. After serving as Chairman of the Department of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong for more than 10 years, Professor Chan has recently decided to focus again in composition and performance.

6.09.06: 2.00 pm: (Concurrent) Remaking of tradition - Theatre + Performance Showcase

(a) Mr. PAI Hsien-yung
Mr. Pai is an acclaimed author whose writings have made him an icon in contemporary Chinese literature since the 70's and 80's. He founded the Modern Literature magazine in Taiwan. Graduated from the Iowa University with a master degree in 1965, he taught at the University of South California. One of his most famous works, Taipei People (a collection of his short stories), has been translated into English under the title : Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream : Tales of Taipei Characters.

Mr. Pai is keenly interested in Kunqu, a form of Chinese opera which has been declared ''Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity'' in 2001 by UNESCO. His short story Wandering in the Garden and Waking from a Dream was inspired by the classic Kunqu Opera, The Peony Pavilion. His love for Kunqu has made him a ‘volunteer worker' in the promotion of the art form for more than 20 years. He has been a driving force behind the much acclaimed revival of the ''The Peony Pavilion'', a China-Hong Kong-Taiwan co-production inviting veteran kunqu opera artists to be the mentor of young artists. Besides being a huge stage success, the production is significant in demonstrating how kunqu may be handed down form one generation to the next.

(b) Mr. Frederic MAO
After attaining his MFA degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Iowa, and undertaking further studies with the renowned acting teacher Sanford Meisner in New York, Mr. Mao launched his acting and directing career with theatre companies and television and film works in the US. At the age of 27, Mr. Mao was appointed Artistic Director of the Napa Valley Theatre Company in California, and later Associate Director of the New Asian American Theatre in New York. After teaching at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as Heading of Acting in the Drama Department for 16 years, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre in February 2001.

(d) Mansai Nomura
Mansai Nomura II was born into an illustrious Kyogen family that boasts a 250-year history. He and his father lead the Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company. He made his stage debut at three. His stage roles cover both traditional Kyogen and Noh characters, and the title roles in Greek tragedies (Oedipus directed by Ninagawa) and Shakespearean plays. He was also starred in hit Japanese movies such as Ran by Kurosawa and Ommyoji. Moreover, he is committed to directing plays that merge the classics and the contemporary, east and west, and his talent is always attracting attentions from public and critics. His appearance in Kyogen version of Shakespeare was first in The Braggart Samurai, based on The Merry Wives of Windsor, which toured to Hong Kong, etc. In 2000, he directed and appeared in The Kyogen of Errors based on Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, which toured to London in 2001 and to the U.S. in 2005. His directing credits include his latest work Atsushi (which brought him Asahi Performing Arts Award and Kinokuniya Theatre Award 2005 for his direction and composition), Yabu no Naka and Kagamikaja. He has been Artistic Director of Setagaya Public Theatre since 2002.

6.09.06: 4:00 pm: Discovering and Reproducing Authentic arts on Contemporary Stage

(a) Mr. AIK Yew Goh
Mr. Aik is the founder and Director of the record company, HUGO Productions. Born in Singapore, he is an accomplished musician, conductor, producer, recording engineer, educator and professional photographer. Mr. Aik has produced and engineered the majority of HUGO CDs and many are considered by audiophiles to be among the best CDs produced. As an instrumentalist, he held the erhu/gaohu chair of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra from 1977 to 1978 and obtained a diploma in cello from the Trinity College of Music (UK). When he worked in the government run Music Office from 1978 to 1989, he had conducted more than two hundred performances with the Music Office's youth orchestras, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the Hong Kong Music Lover Chinese orchestra, including touring performances to the USA, UK, Singapore and Taiwan.

(b) Ms. Joanna LEE
Ms. Lee is currently Honorary Research Fellow of Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong. She has also served as panelist on numerous occasions on the preservation of folk cultures in conjunction with the premieres of Tan Dun's multimedia work, The Map, in Boston, New York, Shanghai, and Washington DC. An expert in a large range of Chinese performing arts from Peking opera to the underground rock scene, Ms. Lee has also been involved with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, in helping the running and setting up of its Beijing ensemble headed by Silk Road musician Wu Tong. As a producer interested in exploring both East and West, she also became the matchmaker for Beijing-based Wu Tong and New York-based Todd Reynolds, David Cossin (Bang on a Can All-Stars), and MIT professor and musicians Evan Ziporyn (Bang on a Can All-Stars). Most recently, Ms. Lee served as a consultant for the month-long Festival of China, co-presented by the Washington DC's Kennedy Center and the Ministry of Culture of China (October 2005).

(c) Mr. Hiroshi TAKAHAGI
Mr. Takahagi is the General Manager of the Setagaya Public Theater. His specializations include arts administration, presenting the performing arts, cultural exchange policy, multi-cultural arts policy, cultural exchange programs and non-government organization (NGO) activities. The Setagaya Public Theatre was opened in 1997 and its aim is to produce and present performing arts especially contemporary drama and dance by both national and international artists.

Moderator : Ms. Robyn ARCHER
Ms. Archer is currently the board of director of the International Society for Performing Arts and the Artistic Director of the Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008. She is also the advisor to the Artistic Program of Ten Days on the Island and the member of the Australian International Cultural Council.

6.10.06: 10:00 am: Remaking of tradition – Dance + Performance Showcase

(a) Mr. Willy TSAO
Mr. Tsao established the City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) in 1979 and has become its Artistic Director since 1989 and Chief Executive Director since 2004. His works have been presented in arts festivals in Canada, Korea, Israel, Germany, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei. Mr. Tsao has been the driving force behind the development of modern dance in China. In 1987, he started teaching modern dance in the Guangdong Modern Dance Experimental Troupe in Guangzhou and at the Beijing Dance Academy in the following year. In 1991, he was invited to be the Artistic Advisor of the Youth Dance Company of the Beijing Dance Academy. Since 1995, he has started conducting intensive modern dance workshops in different cities in China. He helped setting up the Guangdong Modern Dance Company and was then the Artistic Director from 1992 to 1998. In 1999, he became Artistic Director of the Beijing Modern Dance Company. In 2001, Mr. Tsao was invited to be the Artistic Director (Dance) of the Closing Ceremony of the 9th National Games. He was invited to be the Guest Professor of Tianjin Institute of Physical Education in 2002. In 2004, he became the General Manager of the Guangdong Modern Dance Company again. He led the 3 dance companies from Beijing, Guangdong and Hong Kong to take part in the China Festival of Kennedy Centre in late 2005.

(b) Mr. LEE Jong-ho
Mr. Lee , having studied French Literature at the Seoul National University and the graduate school, is the artistic director of the Seoul International Dance Festival and the chief culture editor of YONHAP News Agency. He is dedicated to promoting dance as a critic and is one of the most respected dance critics in Korea. He was the president of the Korean Society of Dance Critics in 2002-2004. In addition, Mr. Lee is Korea's representative to several international cultural exchanges bodies. In 1996, he established the CID-UNESCO Korea Chapter and successfully hosted the 13th CID-UNESCO General Assembly in Seoul, attracting eyes in the worldwide dance society to emerging Korea. In 2004, Mr. Lee was named as an executive council member of The Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals (AAPAF). He has been advising the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Korea Foundation, the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and the Korea Culture and Arts Foundation in initiating and exercising policies and programs related to culture and the arts.

Moderator : Mr. Paul KING
Mr. King is the co-founder of White Bird, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing excellence in dance to Portland, Oregon. Since its founding in July 1997, White Bird has become one of the leading dance-presenters on the West Coast. Mr. King currently sits on the board of the Portland Oregon Visitors Association (POVA) and board of Dance USA. He is also the current Chairman of the Presenters' Council and a board member of California Presenters. As a member of the International Society of Performing Arts (ISPA), he serves on its Programming Committee and acts as Curator/Organizer of the semi-annual Pitch Sessions as well as Co-Chair of the 2006 New York ISPA conference.