Piano – Voice – Theatre
Alvera studied piano with concert pianist Robert Guralnik and went on to graduate from SUNY Fredonia with a major in music and concentrations in piano, voice and theatre. She continued her studies at Ithaca, UConn, UMich and in NYC with Phil Black and Frank Hatchett in dance, Ron Defesi on voice and Shep Coleman in conducting. She recently retired from Misericordia as an adjunct professor teaching choral and vocal studies and from Port Jervis High School after teaching voice, 5 choirs, theory, theatre, and dance while directing their award-winning musical theatre productions. Many of her students have gone on to pursue professional careers in many different music venues.
She has been a guest clinician leading a variety of workshops on subjects
including Vocal Jazz, Musical Theatre Production and Vocal Health. She has been a guest conductor and/or accompanist for many NYS All-County Elementary, Junior High and High School Choirs, Area All-State Choirs, and the Tri-State Youth Choir. Alvera has also spent several seasons as the guest conductor in residence for the Eastern US Music Camp at Colgate NY. Through BBCM, she founded its Children’s Choir and later the BBC Women’s Choir. She could be heard on the radio as a jingle singer or with her own classical radio program called Sunday Symphony and was well-known in the tri-state region as an arranger/performer for a commercial “pop” group called RubyQueen, a vocal jazz quartet called Tuxedo Junction and a classical string trio called Trio Seria.
Her professional theatre experience spans the summer stock and regional
theatre companies as a performer, director or accompanist at the Forestburgh
Playhouse, with BEST productions, and Presby and she worked for two seasons in NYC as musical director for an off-Broadway Theatre company called “Tada!”. She is most proud to have been invited to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China to assist formulating the country’s first University Theatre Program. She continues to accompany local musicals or choirs and most recently for the Milford Theatre production of “Company”. Alvera is excited to be teaching voice as part of the staff of the Black Bear Conservatory and to continue to work with students of all ages.