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Our Team

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Therese Virtue OAM

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.

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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.

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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, where she played lead guitar. 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. She takes a sharp eyed strategic approach to her roles with The Boite.

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Bec James

Project Manager, Boîte Schools Chorus and Boîte Millennium Chorus

Bec (she/her) is an artist who 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.

In her role as The Boîte Schools Chorus Project Co-ordinator, Bec negotiates with the project team, this year involving Choir Director Stella Savy. She sets up a project that links in approximately 40 teachers, 25 schools and a minimum of 700 school children, and facilitates a process that results in major concerts inMelbourne Town Hall and regional venues. In 2025, her project received warm recommendations from His Excellency President Jose Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste, and the Timorese Embassy in Canberra.

Privately, Bec manages her 15 year old business, ’Bec’s Treehouse Art School’.

Bec was the Artistic Director of Richmond’s iconic lantern festival, “Under One Moon”, and has previously worked for several councils and community centres.

Our Committee

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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Our Volunteers

Con Pagonis

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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. 

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