New chief Adrian Walter has big plans for HK Academy for Performing Arts
Adrian Walter has bold plans for performing arts academy, including raising its profile in the city and setting up a cultural policy centre
When Professor Adrian Walter says that he is excited about his new role as the director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, he really means it.
During an almost two-hour interview, the 56-year-old talks excitedly, without taking a sip of water, about his master plan to revamp the academy during his four-year tenure.
"We are being asked too often what we do. We need to make it clearer. A lot of the misconceptions about what we have or have not done is the result of bad communication," says the educator and classically trained guitarist.
Walter is arriving at an important time, not least because he thinks this is a "golden age" for the HKAPA. Founded in 1984, it is now looking into making changes, with its first strategic position review drafted.
The review's recommendations include positioning the academy as a "top-tier institution in the region" with an emphasis on further developing the schools of music and theatre and entertainment arts, stepping up efforts in branding and fund-raising, and strengthening the HKAPA's connection with the cultural sector. It also highlights other issues such as raising students' artistic standards.
Walter was chosen for the job partly because of his experience in restructuring institutions since the 1990s, including four years at Charles Darwin University (CDU) in Australia as its first head of the school of creative arts and humanities, and dean of CDU's faculty of law, business and arts. From 2008 he was head of the school of music at the respected Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, his last position before coming to Hong Kong.
