The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gordon Munro as Deputy Director (Academic) with effect from October 9, 2023.
Dr. Munro is an experienced administrator in higher educational institutions, particularly in the field of conservatoires. With over two decades of leadership experience, he received professional music training in Scotland, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree (BEd Music) with first-class honours from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Glasgow.
Dr. Munro brings extensive expertise in steering academic and curriculum development in performing arts institutions. For the past eight years, he dedicated himself to the role of Director of Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, a globally recognised institution renowned for its excellence in performing arts education and research. Dr. Munro played a pivotal and instrumental role in leading curriculum reform at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, making significant contributions to shaping its programmes. Prior to that, he held the position of Head of the Conservatory of Music and Drama at Dublin Institute of Technology (now TU Dublin) in Ireland.
From 2015 to 2021, Dr. Munro served as a board member and later became the chair of the board of MusiQuE, the European quality assurance agency for music in higher education. He has also contributed his expertise to the board of EQ-Arts, a quality assurance agency for creative and performing arts and design, and has undertaken numerous reviews of performing arts institutions.
Professor Gillian Choa, Director of the Academy, says, “I would like to welcome Dr. Munro to our Academy community. I very much look forward to working with him, and I am sure his extensive experience, expertise and international connections will make a very positive and valuable contribution to the Academy.”
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (www.hkapa.edu)
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), established by The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Ordinance in 1984, is a leading tertiary institution in the performing arts in Asia. It provides professional undergraduate education and practice-based postgraduate studies. The study encompasses Chinese Opera, Dance, Drama, Film and Television, Music, and Theatre and Entertainment Arts. Its educational philosophy reflects the cultural diversity of Hong Kong with emphasis on Chinese and Western traditions, and interdisciplinary learning. Since 2008, the Academy has attained the Programme Area Accreditation (PAA) status awarded by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) to self-monitor and accredit its own undergraduate and post-secondary programmes in the five programme areas of Dance, Drama, Film and Television, Music, and Theatre and Entertainment Arts. Since 2016, the PAA status has been extended to cover Master’s Degree programmes and below; and since 2023, the programmes operated by the School of Chinese Opera accredited by HKCAAVQ has also received PAA status for its post-secondary and undergraduate programmes.
Besides the main campus in Wanchai, Béthanie, the site of the Academy’s Landmark Heritage Campus in Pokfulam, has housed training facilities for the School of Film and Television since 2006.
In the QS University Rankings announced in 2023, the Academy ranks 1st in Asia and 13th in the world in the Performing Arts category.