Our Team
Zulya Kamalova (1969 - 2024)

Former Director (2022-2024)
Zulya Kamalova (8 August 1969 – 18 September 2024) was an ARIA award winning and highly respected artist, producer and communicator. She had rich experiences covering many areas – from art creation, direction and production to promotion, management, and administration. Over her career she has made much multifaceted and critically acclaimed work. Hailing from Tatarstan in central Russia, she is known for her original music inspired by her Tatar and Australian identity and has led numerous inter-disciplinary creative projects. A “Distinguished Artist of Tatarstan”, Zulya has produced ten albums to date solo and with The Children of the Underground and has toured internationally. Zulya’s music has been featured on compilation albums released by Putumayo (USA); BBC Radio (UK); ABC Classics’ and many others.
We remember and honour the late Zulya Kamalova, who served as our Director from 2022 -2024, whose leadership and dedication left a lasting impact on The Boite team and mission. Her legacy continues to inspire what we do everyday.
Therese Virtue OAM

Acting Director, Programs
Therese Virtue (she/her) taught in the Western suburbs of Melbourne for more than 10 years before working as a singer and subsequently an organiser with The Boîte. She has sung with some of Melbourne's most adventurous folk ensembles including Il Gruppo Folcloristico Italiano, the award-winning Petrunka, and now twists her tongue around the consonants of traditional Georgian polyphonic song. She directs three community choirs. Therese has been involved with The Boîte since 1984, and as Boîte World Music Cafe Co-ordinator for the past 30 years has organised and presented approximately 2000 intimate concerts featuring artists from over 40 communities. For more than 30 years she has been a presenter of the Boîte World Music radio programs on 3ZZZ FM, 3PBS and 3CR. A warm and approachable person with a formidable knowledge of the Australian music scene, she is highly respected by artists from many communities.
Leah Healy

Administrative and Finance Coordinator – Member and Donor Engagement
Leah (she/her) has a background in event management and music festivals, with a passion for community and the arts and music from diverse cultures. In 2009 she started working with The Boîte after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Music Business. Originally in admin, and later moving to work on the major projects, Boite World Music Cafe, Millennium Chorus, Schools Chorus and Singers' Festival. For 5 years she has enjoyed co-presenting on The Boîte's radio program, Music Sans Frontieres. Her schedule of work has included event producer, artist manager, booking agent, tour manager and festival organiser. There is no end to her appetite for music and culture and she strongly believes in the benefits of bringing music into people's lives.
Ellen Yee Ning Chan

Marketing Officer, Portfolio Project Co-ordinator
Ellen (she/they) was born in Hong Kong and moved to Sydney at the age of 5. After completing her Bachelor of Music in Canberra she moved to Naarm (Melbourne) with her band Moaning Lisa, who she is the lead guitarist for. Ellen has a passion for building community, championing for accessibility in venues and helping other culturally diverse musicians build capacity and skills to navigate the music industry in Australia.
Bec James

Project Manager, Boîte Schools Chorus and Boîte Millennium Chorus
Bec James (she/her) is an artist and has had a passion for music throughout her life. She was a member of The Australian Girls Choir and continued this love of singing in several bands as an adult. Now managing her business, ’Bec’s Treehouse Art School’, which she has run for over 15 years and has brought joy to thousands of children across Australia at festivals, shopping centres and artist residencies.
Bec was the Artistic Director of Richmond’s iconic lantern festival, “Under One Moon”, and has previously worked for several councils and community centres. As well as her role as The Boîte Schools Chorus Project Co-ordinator, Bec currently creates commissions, runs residencies and teaches art classes for children from her studio.
Claudine Edwards

Admin and Events Officer
Claudine (she/her) has an extensive background in event coordination and arts administration. She has worked in various roles with independent festivals, and spent 17 years in local government delivering both venue based and off site public events and festivals. Most recently she has worked closely with emerging theatre programs and the development of pathways for artists who identify with a disability, are culturally diverse, or from First Nations backgrounds. She is passionate about community engagement projects and programs which respond directly to marginalised or underrepresented communities.
Our Volunteers
Con Pagonis

Volunteer
Con commenced as a volunteer with The Boite in mid-2022. He has also volunteered with Welcoming Cities and the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria since 2015. Prior to that Con had a public sector career as a federal, state, and local government migrant settlement and multicultural affairs policy and program manager. Con has lived and worked in Canberra, Sydney, Hobart, and Melbourne; always collaborating closely with the community and NFP sectors around Australia.
Our Committee

Hannah Young
Chair
Hannah is passionate about young people and providing them opportunities to develop their understanding of themselves in relation to the community and the environment. She was a child of The Boite regularly attending concerts at Mark St and participating in The Boite Schools Chorus. She currently works as a secondary Maths and Science teacher at Princes Hill Secondary College and is the mother to a toddler.

Lilliana Hajncl
Deputy Chair
Lilliana Hajncl is the child of post war migrants from Croatia and the Czech Republic and the UK. She grew up bi-lingual in multicultural Australia which was slowly beginning to recognise the value that came with the many post war arrivals. Lilliana has worked in secondary and adult education in France, Croatia, French Polynesia, Timor L'este as well as Australia. For more than twenty years she has produced award-winning educational and training resources for adult culturally and linguistically diverse communities. She has managed a three year state-wide work readiness training program for newly arrived migrants and refugees. She currently works in curriculum and program development with AMES Australia, supporting both teachers and trainers and new arrivals.
Lilliana is on the organising committee of the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia. She is a long-standing member of the Victorian Electoral Commission Multicultural Advisory Group. Her commitment to the arts and the environment included a decade as a committee member of RGT, a voluntary organisation whose aim was to responsibly recycle clean manufacturing waste into affordable arts materials for primary schools. Lilliana’s passion for music has made her an enthusiastic participant in and advocate for The Boite for many years. She also sings in community choirs here and in Caucasian Georgia.

Malathi Vasudevan
Treasurer - Joined 2022
Malathi Vasudevan moved to Melbourne from New Zealand in March 2020. She is a practising CA working part-time. Her passion is Carnatic Music. She sings and plays the Veena. She has performed in India, NZ and Australia and on many on-line platforms. Prior to moving to Melbourne, she was an active Event Organiser in Auckland and Hamilton. She is delighted to be part of The Boite team.

Therese Virtue OAM
Joined 1984
Therese Virtue taught in the Western suburbs of Melbourne for more than 10 years before working as a singer and then an organiser with The Boîte. She has sung with some of Melbourne's most adventurous folk ensembles including Il Gruppo Folcloristico Italiano and the award-winning Petrunka. She has been involved with The Boîte since 1984, and as Boîte World Music Cafe Co-ordinator for the past 22 years has organised and presented over 1500 intimate concerts featuring artists from 35 communities. For 20 years she has been a presenter of the Boîte World Music radio programs on 3PBS and 3CR. A warm and approachable person with a formidable knowledge of the Australian music scene, she is highly respected by artists from many communities.

Ramnath Iyer
Joined 2022
Ramnath Iyer emigrated to Australia in 1986 from India. Since then, he has been contributing immensely to the Indian Classical music scene in Melbourne as performer, teacher, promoter and organiser of the arts, while holding a full time IT career. Ramnath was awarded the Victorian Multicultural Award for Excellence 2010 for Contribution to Arts by the then Premier of the State of Victoria, Mr John Brumby.
He is classified as ‘A’ graded artist of All India Radio, Chennai since 2009, an honour rarely given to oversees-residing artists and highlights his dedication to the highest quality music.
A citizen of Australia, Ramnath is passionate about fostering and promoting the ancient instrumental tradition of the Veena and Indian classical Music in Australia. He has been a true cultural ambassador through both his own performances, lectures and workshops as well as through the encouragement, support and mentorship of other upcoming and established artists in Australia.

Andrew Byrne
Joined 2024
Andrew is recognised in both Australia and the United States as a leading composer and arts leader. He served as the Artistic Director of Symphony Space on Manhattan's Upper West Side and as Director of Festivals at Carnegie Hall, where he developed innovative artistic projects and collaborated with legendary figures like Jessye Norman, Steve Reich, Gilberto Gil, John Luther Adams, and Béla Fleck.
Since returning to Australia in 2019, Andrew has directed programming at The Eleventh Hour Theatre, a renovated church in Fitzroy, transforming it into a dynamic hub for experimental music and innovation. In 2024, he was appointed musical co-director of Astra Music, one of Naarm/Melbourne’s leading music organisations.

Wen-Juenn Lee
Joined 2025
Wen-Juenn is a writer and arts worker on unceded Wurundjeri Country. Her work has been published in HEAT, Meanjin, Cordite, and Going Down Swinging, among others. Currently, she works at Theatre Network Australia, and is the Liminal x Hyphenated Projects Fellow for 2025.

Joanne Kuluveovski
Joined 2025
Joanne Kuluveovski (she/her) has extensive experience working in both the private and public sectors, higher education and the creative arts. Having originally trained as a chemist, she moved into research administration and operations management at the University of Melbourne. More recently she is the Governance Manager and Company Secretary at the Melbourne Recital Centre. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Governance Institute Australia.
She is passionate about world music and dance, particularly from Eastern Europe. She has sung in various choirs and ensembles including Petrunka, the Melbourne Women's Bulgarian Choir, Soteria Bell and the David Chesworth Ensemble. Having performed nationally within Australia, the Boite facilitated some of her early music performances and experiences..… Joanne has come full circle and joined the Boite's Committee of Management volunteering as Secretary.