Tisa Ho (born 22 December 1948) is an arts administrator and writer from Hong Kong. She is currently the director of the

Hong Kong Arts Festival The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), launched in 1973, is a major international arts festival committed to enriching the cultural life of the city by presenting leading local and international artists in all genres of the performing arts as we ...

and has previously been the director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Arts Festival, and several public art projects in Singapore, including the

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (also known as the Esplanade Theatres (''Malay'': Teater di Persisiran) or simply The Esplanade) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and a performing arts centre loc ...

, a public arts venue. She is currently the chair of the International Society of Performing Arts, and received an award from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong for her contributions, in 2020. She has written several books on arts administration in Asia.

Biography

Ho was born on 22 December 1948 in China. She studied in St. Paul's Convent School in Hong Kong, and pursued art, theater, and music as a child. She went on to attend

Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...

, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1971 and a master's degree in 1973. She studied art history in France, graduating from the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a Lists of universities in France, public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southern France, southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bor ...

in 1974 with a degree in French Studies, before completing a diploma in arts management from the

City University, London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

. Her husband Ronald Ng is a hematologist, and her son

Andrew Ng Andrew Yan-Tak Ng (; born 1976) is a British-born American computer scientist and technology entrepreneur focusing on machine learning and AI. Ng was a co-founder and head of Google Brain and was the former Chief Scientist at Baidu, building ...

is an artificial-intelligence researcher.

Career

Ho worked for the management of the London Film Festival after completing her diploma in arts administration, later returning to Hong Kong where she worked as the arts and public relations consultation for the Hong Kong Arts Festival. In 1984, she moved to Singapore, and worked at the Singapore Arts Center, where she was responsible for executing the development of the

, a public arts venue. In 1986, she began working for Singapore's Ministry of Culture, working for the Cultural Services Division. She established a number of arts initiatives, including creating housing and other grants, and publishing a newsletter, ''Arts Diary''. Ho was appointed the artistic co-ordinator for the Singapore Festival, and curated and marketed the 1988 and 1990 festivals. From 1990 to 1999, Ho was the executive director for the

Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs abou ...

. As the director of the orchestra, she established Singapore's International Piano Festival, as well as a series of open-air concerts at the

Singapore Botanic Gardens The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a -year-old tropical garden located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden, to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. T ...

. She also served on the boards of a number of arts-related organisations, including the Singapore Youth Orchestra, the

LaSalle College of the Arts LASALLE College of the Arts (informally LASALLE) is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution, planned to be a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) by 2024 along with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Sing ...

, and

The Necessary Stage The Necessary Stage (previously known as M1 Theatre Connect and M1 Youth Connection) is a Singaporean non-profit theatre company with charity status. Formed in 1987 by Alvin Tan, The Necessary Stage was established with its own mission to creat ...

. She was also the president of a women's rights organisation, and wrote several newspaper articles and guidebooks while in Singapore. She is currently the chair of the International Society of Performing Arts, and 2020, received an award from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. In 2006, Ho was appointed the executive director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. In 2020, Ho oversaw the presentation of a digital, online version of the festival, in response to restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ho has written several books on arts, public spaces, and artistic projects in Asia. These include ''Building Social Space in Singapore'' (2002), ''Ask Not – The Necessary Stage in Singapore Theatre'' (2004), and ''Her Story'' (2005).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Tisa 1948 births Hong Kong women writers Hong Kong art directors Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Living people