Dr Jo Yee Cheung

Chief Executive

I am the Founder and Chief Executive of Olympias Music Foundation. My role is to help all the different parts of the charity (Programmes, Development, Finance) work together in harmony, and to collaborate with our families, partners, and supporters to shape our future. I'm a British pianist and music educator, and the first musician in my family. I studied Music at the University of Cambridge, trained as a pianist at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and later completed a PhD in Music Education at the RNCM (with a secondment to the University of Canberra as Visiting Research Fellow), specialising in the role of parents in supporting children's musical development. In 2023, I was honoured to be named an Associate Member of the RNCM (ARNCM) and one of the ‘RNCM50 Faces’. I also serve as an External Examiner for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a Trustee at The Bridgewater Hall. When I'm not writing funding bids or reviewing strategy documents, I enjoy travelling to unusual places and hanging out with my cat, Atticus. My favourite piece of music is the first movement of Britten’s String Quartet No. 1 in D Major (it sounds like winter sun shining through a frosty window, interrupted by a herd of wild horses!). For dancing? Nothing beats Africa by Toto.