Emerging Professional Leadership Council

The EPLC collaborates with EMA’s Board of Directors to support the organization’s young professionals and prioritize engagement. EPLC members are mentored by EMA board members and participate in EMA board meetings and committees. They connect with other emerging early-music professionals and make a difference in our community through creative programming.

Past EPLC projects include hosting the EMA Mixer, networking events at the Boston, Berkeley, Bloomington Early Music Festivals, as well as the EMA Summit, and contributing to EMA’s publications with a varieties of essays and features.

EPLC Member Guidelines

The EPLC will comprise a maximum of 15 members.
EPLC Members will serve a 2-year term, renewable once for a 1-year term extension. (3-year term max)
To be an EPLC member in good standing, members are expected to attend a minimum of three of the four quarterly Council meetings (August, November, February, and May) and actively participate in Council projects.
EPLC members should expect a commitment of four hours per month over 10 months each year.
All EPLC members receive a complimentary EMA Personal membership.
- Membership is not required at the time of application.
EPLC members are invited to attend EMA Board meetings (in person or via Zoom), as non-voting participants and to actively participate in EMA’s Board training programs and committees.
Candidates should be no older than 35 at time of application.

2024-2025 EPLC Members

Julia Connor
Michael Delfin, co-chair
Patricia Garcia Gil, co-chair
Lin Lao
Hayley Murks-Abdikadirova

Curtis Pavey
Fernando Santiago Serrano dos Santos
Matthew Shorten
Amelia Sie
Lindsey Tootle

Mission

The Emerging Professional Leadership Council (EPLC) provides young professionals valuable non-profit board experience by working alongside the board of Early Music America to support and advocate for the next generation of early music professionals, performers, scholars, patrons and enthusiasts in North America.

The EPLC is committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility and building a diverse council.

If you have comments or questions for members of EPLC, Contact EMA.

EPLC Programs

Connect with your early-music community across the Americas! Join us for fun and conversation with special guests on a range of topics hosted by EMA’s Emerging Professional Leadership Council with special guests and a wide range of topics. And stick around afterwards to test your early-music knowledge in a low stress game of trivia… with prizes!

Learn more and register for upcoming Mixers.

Julia Connor

I have co-founded both the Berwick Fiddle Consort, which performs historical folk music on period instruments, and Room to Spare, which composes and performs original music blending jazz, classical, and folk traditions. Recent highlights include a performance with Rumbarroco and La Donna Musicale at the Boston Early Music Festival, a residency at Avaloch Farm, multiple solo recitals, and teaching at the Panama Jazz Festival. When not performing, I like to hike and make pies.

Michael Delfin

I am a historical keyboardist and pianist from central California and am now based in Cincinnati, OH, teaching piano at Cedarville University and performing across the US. I recently graduated from the University of Cincinnati with doctorates in both piano and harpsichord and serve as artistic director of Seven Hills Baroque, which I co-founded. My research interests include Renaissance Italian keyboard, Brahms performance practice, Latin American Baroque, and new music for early and modern keyboards.

Patricia García Gil

Patricia studied piano in Spain and the UK, fortepiano in Italy, and is currently pursuing a DMA in Historical Keyboards at UNCG. Winner of international competitions, she collaborates with prestigious early-music institutions all over the world. With her repertoire choices and research, she strives for IDEA by enhancing the profiles of underrecognized female composer-pianists and outreaching to audiences who tend to rarely connect with classical music. Patricia was an EMA Emerging Artist in 2022. She also serves on the Board of Directors of HKSNA.

Lin Lao

I’m a fortepianist and my passion lies in researching and rediscovering forgotten compositions and performing these works on the historical instruments for which they were composed. I actively perform and present at early-music conferences, and also serve as the chair of the Nominating Committee at the Historical Keyboard Society of North America. I look forward to more adventures at EPLC and EMA. Outside of music, I like to read, hike, and cook.

Hayley Murks-Abdikadirova

As a performer-composer and certified teaching artist, I am thrilled to serve on the EPLC this year! I’m a violist originally from Mississippi, with a wide range of interests in the field of performance as well as arts entrepreneurship & leadership. After completing my graduate studies in viola performance at the Longy School of Music, I’m excited to embark on a new journey working on an advanced degree at Harvard studying arts leadership this fall.

Curtis Pavey

I am a harpsichordist, pianist, and educator working at the University of Missouri as the Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Performance. I recently completed a doctoral degree at the University of Cincinnati under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Unger and Professor James Tocco, where I developed An Introduction to Early Music and the Harpsichord, a textbook designed to introduce pianists to the harpsichord.

Fernando Santiago Serrano dos Santos

Curious and inquisitive, I am a Brazilian baroque violinist, with interests ranging from rhetoric to historical dances. Having recently worked alongside important names of the early-music scene, as Jos van Veldhoven and John Butt, I continue my investigations with Pavlo Beznosiuk, Rachel Podger, Nicolette Moonen, and dance specialist Mary Collins, as an Enlightenment Award holder at the Royal Academy of Music. Previous education highlights include the São Paulo State University, the Versailles Centre for Baroque Music, and the OSESP Academy.

Matthew Shorten

I lead dual careers as an early-music tenor and composer and as an emerging curator and historian of East Asian art. I perform internationally as a soloist and choral artist with ensembles including the Bach Society of Minnesota, Cantus, Ensemble Altera, Red Dot Baroque, the VOCES8 Scholars, and Voices of Singapore, among others. I hold a B.Mus. from Vanderbilt University, and I am pursuing my M.A. in the History of Art at Williams College.

Amelia Sie

I’m a violinist/violist living in NYC. I moved here in 2021 to attend The Juilliard School; before that, I was a music teacher at Bridge Boston Charter School, and before that I was a student at New England Conservatory! Some things I’m looking forward to this year are developing a Baroque-inspired improv curriculum for music classrooms and continued collaborations with Handel+Haydn Society as a Stone Fellow.

Lindsey Tootle

I’m Lindsey, a Cincinnati-based Baroque violinist originally from Huntsville, Alabama. An ongoing personal project is the founding of a historically informed ensemble in Alabama which will explore music of both the Baroque and traditional/early American repertoires, as well as helping to galvanize both new and existing early-music initiatives statewide. I’m thrilled to join EPLC to exchange fresh ideas with talented colleagues, and make wonderful friends along the way!