Our Story
The Performers Learning Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, founded in August of 2020. It is the brainchild of Evelyn Estava and Michael Avagliano, performers and educators in the New Jersey area for the last twenty-plus years. PLA was born in the middle of the pandemic, when we realized that music learning, like everything else, would be changed forever, and we decided to make a commitment to help emerging musicians and conductors become well-rounded artists by engaging with themselves and their communities.
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About
PERFORMERS LEARNING ALLIANCE is a new, non-profit organization dedicated to providing emerging musical performers of all ages with the education and tools they need to develop a successful career. School music programs are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the arts are now more underfunded than ever, even when the need for the arts has grown so much in these times of uncertainty. Despite these challenges, interest in performing arts careers has never been greater. The Alliance strives to provide these emerging artists with a more comprehensive experience than what has been part of standard performing arts education. In addition to presenting master classes in technique and interpretation in different instruments, chamber music, and orchestral conducting, we are also aim to fill the gaps in their musical education. Changing times and technology require different skills, and one of our principal goals is to provide emerging performers with seminars, workshops, and performing opportunities with artists and arts administrators with proven track records, thereby giving artists the tools they need to develop their musical and entrepreneurial proficiency.
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Another goal of our organization is to connect the performers to their own bodies, to their audiences, and to their communities. That is why we are partnering with masters in different disciplines to provide our members with a holistic approach to their craft, by providing a broader viewpoint than what they might have acquired in a school or conservatory setting.
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The Performers Learning Alliance strives to create a new breed of performer: one in tune with their surroundings, capable of engaging audiences and helping their communities in this post-pandemic Zoom world, with the tools necessary to enrich lives through their talent, consciousness, and sensitivity. The events of last year have reminded us of the primordial role that the arts have played in the preservation of the human spirit through the ages, and through the darkest of times.
board of directors
Evelyn Estava, President
Michael Avagliano, Vice-President
Leonardo Aponte, Treasurer
Eunice Kong, Secretary
Kimberly Avagliano
Christian Carrillo
Rebecca Harris-Lee
Gerall Hieser
Carrie Lin
Helene Resky
advisory board
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Violoncello
Eastman School of Music
Music Director, Plainfield Symphony Orchestra
Musikverein Symphonia Wien
Music Director, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra
Austrian-American Bass Baritone
Music Director, Allentown Symphony Orchestra​
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