Kia ora e te whanau, today we some news to share about staff changes in the APRA AMCOS NZ team.
Sadly, we will shortly bid farewell to our long-running, Director of NZ Member Services |Te Kaiwhakahaere Matua mō ngā Mema ki Aotearoa, Victoria Kelly, who has decided to step down.
This comes about as a result of Victoria’s strong desire to focus more time on her own music. The world needs more of Victoria's music, so while we are very sad to see her go, we also wholeheartedly support her commitment to the wonderful world of composing.
Those that know Victoria will agree her impact at APRA over the last seven years has been remarkable. She has connected us deeply with our members, driven transformational projects like SongHubs, helped inspire our focus on kaupapa Māori, and ensured we keep a creator’s perspective at the forefront of everything we do. She has been an incredible advocate and the results of her work are long-lasting and important. Thankfully she will always be part of the APRA whanau but right now we acknowledge and salute her work with us and look forward to the sublime music she will make in coming months and years.
To support the operational needs of the NZ Membership team we have created a new role of Manager, NZ Member Operations. Mike Hall has been appointed to lead the team in this role in Auckland, working alongside a very experienced and supportive crew that many of you will know well: Gabe Andrews, Rita Luck, and Trilby Crowther.
Mike is a well-known APRA member with more than two decades of experience as an incredibly versatile bass player and musical collaborator. Early in his career, Mike abandoned the corporate lawyer world for a life of composing, recording, and touring. He will be a huge asset.
Also joining the team (on contract) is Pere Wihongi (Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Kuri, Ngāti Wai) to assist, Pītau Whakarewa – Māori Membership Growth & Development Leader, Dame Hinewehi Mohi with our growing suite of Oro projects.
To further support our work with our members through our events and multiple communication channels, Holly Afoa has been appointed to the role of Representative, NZ Communications and Events. She will support the excellent work of Lydia Jenkin in her new enhanced role as Manager, NZ Communications and Events.
In other developments, Willis Hsu, who has joined the International Licensing team, (but still based in Auckland) is replaced by Ellie Redmond, and adding to the Media Licensing team resources is Ashleigh Tait on a part-time basis. In the extremely busy OneMusic NZ team, we have welcomed Whare Tana as a business licensing representative under the guidance of Manager, OneMusic NZ, Natasha Babich.