Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA) was founded in 1962 to bring chamber musicians into local classrooms. Over the years YALA has adapted and evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of youth throughout the state, becoming the leading provider of arts education and integration programs in the state of Louisiana. We offer a comprehensive and creative approach to educating children. Fortified with 60 years of experience, we draw upon our region’s strong culture to provide young people with tools to impact their worlds using art. Through our school performances, arts-integrated residencies, extended learning programs, community workshops, and professional learning for teachers and teaching artists, we not only impact the children of New Orleans, but make intentional contact with the influential adults in their lives. YALA is part of a national network of 32 affiliates throughout the country under Young Audiences Arts for Learning. As the nations first and largest arts-in-education network Young Audiences Arts for Learning ensures the highest standards in arts education programs for over 5 million schoolchildren annually. YALA is also the Louisiana affiliate for The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts™. The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts™ is an internationally respected program that provides innovative arts-based teaching strategies and services to early childhood teachers, caregivers, parents, and their children from 0 to 5 through the disciplines of drama, music, and movement. Each year, the Wolf Trap Institute's local, regional, national, and international programs provide educational services for more than 55,000 young children, their parents, educators, and teaching artists.