NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear members of SEADOM

Greetings from Malaysia! I trust everyone is in good health and keeping safe during these challenging times.

It is a tremendous honour for me to welcome you as the new President of SEADOM. I am humbled at this opportunity to lead the association for the next two years. I will stay focused on SEADOM’s mission and I am eager to explore ways to enhance and foster relationships among SEADOM members and to deepen and broaden our work moving forward. I wish to extend my congratulations to the new Executive Council, Theme Chairs and National Representatives. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Past President Professor Bernard Lanskey for his leadership of SEADOM as well as to outgoing Executive Council members for bringing the association to where it stands today. Thank you to Dr. Joe Bowman and those in the SEADOM Office in Bangkok for managing SEADOM activities all these years.

Despite the current challenges, it has been wonderful as previously mentioned by Professor Lanskey, to see continuous musical interactions across Southeast Asia in the past year with our online series among others. We hope to continue with more activities and our theme chairs are coming up with activities in their respective portfolios for the upcoming years. And we are hoping to have the next SEADOM congress in the later part of 2022. It would be a wonderful opportunity to be able to catch up during the congress.

SEADOM has come a long way and I thank everyone for your immeasurable contributions. We look forward to your support moving forward to ensure we continue to fulfil SEADOM’s mission together and finding ways how we can serve the association and the members better, as we prepare for the next phase of our growth. Please do not hesitate to connect with me.

Cheers to the beginning of a new term. Looking forward to seeing everyone soonest, and in the meantime stay safe.

Shahanum Md. Shah
SEADOM President
2021 – 2023

NOTE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

As many schools and members of our association return to teaching, in more and more optimistic circumstances as Covid vaccines allow for more open situations, here at SEADOM we are planning for a new member year that we hope will culminate in an actual Congress gathering in Fall 2022.  Its been too long for us to meet together in person, and while zoom has kept us connected, there is something special about sitting with each other – meeting, talking, eating, sharing, and listening to music.

Our new Executive Council begins its two-year term with our newly elected SEADOM president – Dr. Shahanum Mohd Shah, we will be working on planning new activities and projects, as well as continuing the great work done to this point with projects such as the “30 Under 30”.  

Just as its natural to look forward, it is important to look back and recognize the leadership that has allowed us to stand together strong as an association. Our previous and first SEADOM President – Bernard Lanskey and our previous SEADOM Secretary Jenny Ang are moving to new positions that will take them in new directions. I wanted to thank them for their efforts.  We have traveled throughout the region together over the past decade, as we worked on so many of the past Congresses and had the chance to bring SEADOM to many global music events.  Their insights and efforts have helped to make SEADOM stronger today and we will look forward to hearing about their new chapters as they unfold.

I miss you all – I really am excited that soon we will be able to see each other soon and continue the work of linking Southeast Asia music training organizations and interested individuals together. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t miss our in-person gatherings, and hope for their quick return.  Please remember that SEADOM is strong when each of us advocates for collaboration regionally.  We all know that local is where we think first but lets not immediately jump to other far-off destinations, without recognizing that there is regional expertise that deserves to be shared and connected into.

Yours in music,
Joe Bowman
Executive Director - SEADOM