Latest news with #IvanZhang
RNZ News
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
David Squire's farewell NZ Youth Choir tour
David Squire directing the NZ Youth Choir at the Sydney Opera House in December 2022. Photo: Robert Catto Photography When David Squire joined New Zealand's National Youth Choir as a singer, it never occurred to him he might one day direct it. But direct it he has, for 15 years. That time, which has included some "really amazing experiences", is coming to an end, as Squire is stepping down as the New Zealand Youth Choir 's music director once it has completed its latest overseas tour to Singapore, Denmark and the UK. Squire and choir tenor Ivan Zhang joined RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump ahead of the choir's departure. This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. David Squire and the New Zealand Youth Choir Photo: Jo Highlights of the tour will include taking part in the European Choir Games in Denmark before representing New Zealand at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales. The latter is a celebration of and competition for performing arts groups from around the world. It's not the first time the Youth Choir has taken part in the Eisteddfod, which all happens in a giant tent in a field not far from the small north Wales town of Llangollen. The last time Squire took the choir there, everyone was sweltering in a heatwave (and there's not much in the way of air conditioning inside the tent). The year before, it rained and the venue turned into a swamp. Not that those extremes put the musicians off. New Zealand Youth Choir 2025 member Ivan Zhang Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Youth Choir The tour also marks the end of Ivan Zhang's current stint with the choir. As well as studying music, Zhang is also reading law at Auckland University. He was thinking law would be his longer term career choice, but he is beginning to wonder if music is where his heart is. Luckily, he's young enough to audition for another stint with the NZ Youth Choir. As for Squire, he's not sure what his longer term plans will be. His focus is on the Youth Choir's tour, and once that's over, taking part in the Big Sing where Euphony and Voicemale - two Auckland secondary school choirs he directs - have made it through to the Finale in Dunedin this August.
Globe and Mail
10-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Cohere launches AI health care agents in the U.S.
Canadian artificial intelligence company Cohere Inc. is entering the health care industry through a partnership with U.S.-based Ensemble Health Partners that uses AI agents to help hospitals and other providers manage their revenue. Cohere, founded in 2019, uses large-language models to build chatbots and generative-AI platforms for enterprise customers to automate some tasks. The partnership with Ensemble, launched Tuesday, uses a customized version of the North by Cohere platform that will run on health care providers' internal systems and help with tasks such as hospitals appealing insurance-claim denials and chasing down accounts receivable. The company said pre-launch tests of the tools accelerated denial appeals by 40 per cent and improved denial overturn rates by 15 per cent. Running on internal systems is a key part of how the AI system protects the safety of patients' information and complies with privacy law, said Cohere co-founder Ivan Zhang. 'There's no data leaving their system, because all the agents are in the house,' he said. Because of those privacy concerns, Mr. Zhang said the AI has to be trained on synthetic data, which would be similar to real-world data in likeness and structure but without any protected personal information. The foray into health-care follows Cohere's work in the financial sector, which has to adhere to similar privacy rules. In January, the company announced a partnership with Royal Bank of Canada to co-develop and run a customized platform called North for Banking which, among other things, helps employees answer questions from customers. Mr. Zhang said Cohere is focused on the U.S. market for now, but hopes to have more to announce for Canadian health-care soon. 'So far, we are focused on the U.S. markets. We want to take these learnings and adapt it to different systems in Canada and globally,' he said. Cohere did not disclose any financial terms or which U.S. clients are using the AI platform. The company also received a nod Tuesday from new federal AI minister Evan Solomon. In a speech in Ottawa, Mr. Solomon outlined the government's new approach to AI, saying it would shift from 'warnings and regulation' to celebrating industry 'champions' such as Cohere. Mr. Zhang said he was 'delighted' by the support and said there was a strong case to be made that investments in AI were part of strengthening Canada's economy and security. 'We've been very happy about the government's engagement so far,' he said.
