2710 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10025
(212) 665-9460

Taller People

Bernardo Palombo is the founder and Artistic Director of El Taller Latino Americano. He began the Workshop in 1979 in a small space on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and moved to the current location on Broadway and 104th Street in 1996.

Born in Mendoza, Argentina, Palombo achieved his first musical success at the age of 17 when his song "Vendimiador" was recorded by the legendary Argentinean vocal group, Los Trovadores, and became an immediate and long-lasting hit. He moved to New York City in 1969 and continued to write songs that have been recorded by some of the best-known exponents of Latin music in New York and Nueva Canción in South America including Mercedes Sosa, Philip Glass, Conjunto Libre and Lucecita Benitez. Palombo also became a musical consultant and composer for film and television, involving himself in such diverse and innovative projects as the Lucas/Coppola production of Powaqqatsi, the film Americas in Transition and the PBS show Sesame Street, who have featured some of his Spanish language songs.

Bernardo's musical background and 30+ years of teaching inspired the development of El Taller's unique acoustic based language programs for adults and children. Prior to founding El Taller, Bernardo taught at the New School, Sarah Lawrence, Yeshiva University and the United Nations School. But it is at El Taller that his vision for language education flourished. In recognition of his unique contribution to the education and the arts, Bernardo received the Independent Educator's Award from Teachers College at Columbia University and numerous grants from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Meet some of the staff and other teachers who are important parts of the El Taller family:

Board of Directors:
Bernardo Palombo
Andrea Arroyo
Stephen Brown
Jennifer Pliego
Carmen Rivera-Tirado
Suzanne Sousa
Renée Typaldos

Administrative & Creative Staff:
Bernardo Palombo — Founder, Artistic Director, Director of the Houses of Music and Language
Jennifer Pliego — Deputy Director, Director of the House of Art
Melissa Axelrod — Program Manager, Director of the House of Children
Meagan Van Ahn — Operations Manager
Cristina Kahn — Administrative Assistant
Abram Izagarra — Maintenance
Tom Campbell — Director, House of Film
Garry Portugal — Director, House of Dance

Teachers:
Bernardo Palombo — Spanish
Alexandra Castano — Spanish
Atzin Gaytan — Spanish
Libia Gil —Spanish
Cristina Kahn — Spanish for Children
Alexandra Ochoa — Spanish
Andrea Oliva — Spanish, Spanish for Children
Rebecca Salazar —Spanish
Yolanda Torres —Spanish
George Trivino —Spanish

Casa México:
Isabel Navarro — President
Carlos Navarro — Founder & Executive Director
Terry Romero — Founder & Vice-President
George Trivino — Assistant to the Board of Directors/ English Teacher
Dyanira de la Rosa —English Teacher
Raul Perez — Music Teacher

Teacher Spotlight:

El Taller is proud to add Rebecca Salazar as a new Spanish teacher. Rebecca is an accomplished music teacher with extensive experience singing and leading workshops in schools and other venues throughout New York City. She especially loves teaching children of all ages about music. She has native fluency in spoken Spanish and also performs live music events in both Spanish and in Portuguese, as well as four other languages. Rebecca is a native New Yorker and the daughter of Guatamalan immigrants.

Rebecca has already impressed her students with her ability to teaching Spanish while incorporating music and the arts. Students are also excited about her, with one student telling her "Rebecca, tienes un dote para enseñar." ("Rebecca, you have a gift for teaching.")

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