NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Welcome to our latest SEADOM newsletter!

It has been wonderful to see so many musical interactions continue across Southeast Asia in the past few months despite ongoing global challenges. Although times have been hard for many, the move to on-line technology has arguably facilitated even more consistent interaction than before, including with new ones beyond our shores. Thanks particularly to those in the SEADOM Office in Bangkok for managing everything during these complex times.

In this light, I am grateful to the Association of European Conservatoires for reaching out to SEADOM, and also to Anothai Nitibhon and Joenic France ‘Nicky’ Juanite for their contributions, respectively sharing their experiences of running the PGVIS in August and the evolution as a musician in contemporary Southeast Asia as part of our emerging 30 under 30 project. Nicky's point - shared with music leaders across the world - that "we are all learners on a shared journey" was particularly resonant. Other Southeast Asian connections included interactions with the global organisation Classical:NEXT as well as with a range of other activities presented in this Newsletter.

Building on the concept of shared learning, you may already be aware that we have moved the next SEADOM Congress, which had been proposed for March, to a later date, probably aligning with the 2021 PGVIS in Bangkok in August. In the meantime, SEADOM will run a series of three 2-hour online seminars in the first half of 2021 on the themes of wellness and technology, to include the key presenters originally scheduled originally for the 2020 congress. We will also look at what is emerging through the 30 under 30 project by introducing its basic concept and directions that are emerging from it. Please keep a look out for the final schedule coming up soon!

SEADOM has come a long way and as we prepare for the next phase of our growth, I will be stepping down as President of SEADOM in September 2021 after over a decade in this role. It has been an exciting experience to witness the expansion in connections across the region and I am confident that SEADOM is now ready for a new generation of leadership. Elections will be held in August as part of the congress in Bangkok with a view to new post-holders being in place to take over the reins from October.

I will also be leaving the Deanship role at YST Conservatory in June 2021 as I have been appointed Director and Professor at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU) in Brisbane, Australia, commencing next July. No doubt, I will continue to connect with you by establishing QCGU as an SEADOM Associate Member and will still hold a visiting consultancy role in Singapore - but it will be hard to leave behind so much here that has come to matter so much. Thank you for all the connections we have made - anticipating building new ones, to the Southeast from the Southeast!

Looking forward to seeing everyone in person, hopefully by August in Bangkok, and in the meantime online! Best wishes to everyone for 2021 - I think we can all be confident it will be a year very different from this one!

Bernard Lanskey

President

SEADOM

NOTE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Greetings from the SEADOM office at the College of Music, Mahidol University!  I hope everyone is having a good start to 2021. Here in Thailand, we had a resurgence of COVID-19 cases that have delayed our teaching for a month and are working through those familiar shutdown/limitations that go along with the pandemic.  As we have all felt the challenges of these times, I do hope that every one of you is doing well and is working to find ways to connect.  I have grown to appreciate friends and family connections more than I did previously, in perhaps a bit of “taking for granted” easy access to visits, flights, etc.

While we look ahead to 2021, in discussions with our officers and Executive Council members it became clear that meeting in person in the beginning of the year is untenable.  We are planning a series of online gatherings with themes and discussions that will be open to all SEADOM members (and potential members)!  The dates, times and details for these will be shared here in the newsletter and we hope that these gatherings can serve to help bring us each and remind ourselves of the strong bonds in music we have here in Southeast Asia.

We will be running our SEADOM election this year as well and will be soliciting nominations for Executive Council members to serve a 2-year term.  Reminder that in our rules of the association, it is the elected council members who vote to select a president, and then the president appoints officers and additional members of the council to make a maximum of ten.  Our own long serving SEADOM President and leader Bernard Lanskey has announced that he will not be standing for election in 2021, so we will need others interested in helping to shape and guide the association as we move forward.

I wanted to take time to share some cheers and respects for Bernard, as one of the critically important forces of SEADOM in its first 10 years. Without his guidance and wisdom, SEADOM would not be in the strong position it is in now.  He has offered vast amounts of his time, energies and dedication to making the association grow, and we will be forever in his debt. On a personal note, Bernard has been a strong mentor for me this past decade and I have learned much from him.  Let us all take attempt to live the dream that SEADOM’s founders shared - helping to bring musicians, music entities and music education in the region closer together.

Musically yours,

Joseph Bowman

Executive Director

NOTE FROM THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBER AND TREASURER

Dear SEADOM Colleagues

I hope you are all well with the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.  We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.  The hope to get through with the situation is high. We are stronger and faster in adaption of life routine after the pandemic.  Since December 2020, Thailand has had a new outbreak from the COVID-19. We closed many places including schools but not completely locked down like the first time.  Although the number of infected people still very low, most of the musical events are tremendously affected.  We have postponed all the concerts and events from late December to a later time this year.  We know that music is essential to everyone’s life and music will somehow find the way to communicate with people in various forms. We are working hard to support the music society to continue during this tough time.

At the SEADOM office, all staff and crew are constantly working to prepare virtual events for 2021. We have been in touch via online platform for meeting and update. We would like to assure that all the wonderful relationships between each member are continue without interruption.  This year we decided to host many events online and onsite at the various time throughout the year instead of having a big event. We are looking forward to meet all the members again on those online gatherings

Sincerely yours,

Narong Prangcharoen

Dean, College of Music, Mahidol University

Executive Council Member and Treasurer