Paola Avila

Colombian conductor Paola Ávila was recently appointed as a Freeman Conducting Fellow at the Chicago Sinfonietta for the 2018 – 19 season. As a consequence of her interest in symphonic music and passion for education and social transformation through music Paola Àvila served as Music Director of the UniMusica Youth Symphony Orchestra in Colombia, assistant conductor of the Peabody Youth Orchestra in Baltimore - USA, and as conductor of one of the youth orchestras of El Sistema project in Bogotá, Colombia. Paola currently works with Orchkids, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s music program inspired by Venezuela’s El Sistema, reinforcing her contact with community outreach and education. Paola also served as cover/assistant conductor of the prestigious Colombia Youth Philharmonic (Filarmónica Joven de Colombia) for one of their national tours.

Paola Ávila has conducted several ensembles in the context of festivals and masterclasses included Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Pärnu Music Festival Chamber Orchestra (Estonia), Filharmònica de Cambra de Catalunya (Spain), Cabrillo Festival Orchestra (USA), and the Colombia National Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has worked with conductors Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Cristi Macelaru, Markus Stenz.

Paola was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She holds a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA) where was mentored by Marin Alsop. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting with SUMMA CUM LAUDE honors, from the Juan N. Corpas University in Bogotá, Colombia under the guidance of Jorge Alejandro Salazar.