The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) is pleased to announce that Mr. Jorge Luis Cacheiro has been appointed Dean of the School of Drama with effect from June 1, 2023.

Mr. Cacheiro is a prestigious and well-respected theatre innovator with extensive teaching experience in acting and directing, as well as an award-winning theatre director and producer whose work has been presented globally. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of California and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from Yale University.

Professor Gillian Choa, Academy Director, welcomes Mr. Cacheiro to join the Academy community and remarks, “I look forward to working with Mr. Cacheiro and am sure that his experience, expertise and international connections will make a very positive and valuable contribution to the Academy, especially for the further development of the School of Drama.”

Mr. Cacheiro has devoted himself to higher education in the performing arts for over 25 years and served as Founder cum Executive Director of the School of Performing Arts at Pace University. Prior to his tenure at Pace, he founded the New Works Initiative (NWI) at Montclair State University.  

Mr. Cacheiro has taught Master’s acting and directing classes at the University of California, Cal Arts, Princeton University and the University of Iowa. Along with his long history of directing world premieres of new plays, he became the first American director to be invited to lead a Cuban company in a Latin American production in 2010.

About 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. The programmes operated by the School of Chinese Opera are accredited by HKCAAVQ for recognition under the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework.

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 World University Rankings announced in 2023, the Academy is ranked 13th in the world and 1st in Asia in the Performing Arts category.