Meet Staff

Tom Berich

Antigua Site Director

A former producer for Nickelodeon, Tom Berich began his steelpan experience as an employee of Ellie Mannette (“The Father of the Modern Steelpan”). His experience with the instrument has taken him to perform on national tours and recording projects. He’s had the privilege of performing on 2 Trinidad Panoramas (Silver Stars 2016, Sforzata 2017). He has started the university ensembles in Southern Oregon University and Southern Missouri University, and directed ensembles at Indiana University, Ohio University and the University of Montana. He has also performed in New York Panorama (Philadelphia Pan Stars, 2018) and Antigua Panorama (2019). In 2019 he performed with the PanRocks: RUSH in Burbank, CA, and was a performer with AZAGUNO for the 25th anniversary celebration of the National Theatre of Ghana. If he could retire and move to Antigua…he’d do it…right now.

Lorenzo Abarca

Costa Rica Program Director, San Jose

Lorenzo is in charge of all volunteers in San Jose, and acts as their day-to-day main point of contact. He matches volunteers with placements, accompanies volunteers on their first day of work, leads an orientation to the program and city, and is always available to address any issues that arise.

Hello!  My name is Lorenzo Abarca, and I am currently working as the CRLA Directors’ Assistant and Program Director for PAA programs in San Jose.  For many years I have been involved with international exchange organizations in different aspects but mostly in the field of volunteering. My experience has given me the possibility to learn about different cultures and people from a variety of countries, and to support projects in need. I am looking forward to meeting you soon. Best regards to you all.

Lisa Pinheiro

Costa Rica Program Director, High School Programs

Lisa supports our high school-aged participants in Costa Rica. She conducts a special orientation geared toward unaccompanied minors, provides a local cell phone and checks in daily with text messages, leads two special activities each week for all high schoolers on-site, manages a 24-hour onsite emergency phone specifically for minors, and provides additional support services as needed.

Lisa Pinheiro is originally from Costa Rica, but has lived in the U.S.A. on several occasions. She studied photography and has been working in the field of tourism and study abroad for 17 years. She owns a tourism company and has worked as onsite director for PAA for 3 years. She’s a huge art, music and movie fan.

Cristina Soto

Costa Rica Site Director

Cristina supports all participants on all of our Costa Rica programs. She oversees a team that coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing by vetting homestay families and building relationships, leads cultural excursions, delivers top-notch Spanish-language instruction, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Cristina Soto, director of CRLA, (Costa Rican Language Academy) co-founded this language school, which combines Spanish instruction with Latin Dance classes and other cultural activities in order to provide students with a complete cultural immersion.

Since 1986 she has been fulfilling her passion by working with more than 25,000 students from all over the world. She has also worked for many years as a volunteer in homes for abandoned children and other social projects. This work touched her own life when she adopted two children from a local home.

Cristina believes in the importance of volunteering, not only as a way to improve the lives of others who are less fortunate, but as a valuable and rewarding experience for the volunteer. During the past 15 years CRLA has also incorporated a volunteering program to provide support to more than 40 social and ecological projects throughout Costa Rica.

While studying Social Sciences in the University of Costa Rica Cristina received training in classical ballet and modern dance. Although her career is now focused on education and volunteer programs, she is still passionate about the arts and sponsors various artists in dance, music and plastic arts.

Roland Spendlingwimmer

Costa Rica Program Director, San Isidro circus

Roland is the founder of the circus in San Isidro where our participants volunteer. He coordinates their welcome to the town of San Isidro, manages the schedule of the circus, sets up performances and special events, and maintains relationships with community centers and other sites where the circus conducts outreach activities.

Roland Spendlingwimmer, born in Austria 1946, has been living in Costa Rica since 1980. He is one of the founders of the European Cooperative for refugees “Longo Mai” in Costa Rica, and is a proud member of the Asociation VIDA NUEVA. Since 1996, he has been working with underprivileged children in San Isidro de El General, where he started PAA’s partner project CIRCO FANTAZZTICO in 2001.

Diana Balarezo

Ecuador Site Director

Diana supports all participants on our (mainland) Ecuador programs, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in the country. She coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing by vetting homestay families and fostering relationships, leads cultural excursions, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Diana was born in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Maybe this is why she loves so much the Andean landscapes and gets lost when there are not mountains around her! She is trilingual (Spanish, English and French) and has worked with people from all over the world for many years already. This has allowed her to see the world from a different perspective and be friends with people with different backgrounds, ideologies and cultures.

In high school, she studied five years at the Compañía Nacional de Danza. And, during her junior year of college (at the State of Indiana) she took a pottery class that made her fall completely in love with plastic arts and decided to get a minor in this area. After this time her life took a different path; she never lost the interest in ballet and although she doesn’t practice it anymore, she enjoys every piece she watches. And she is still involved in culture and art through a family business that runs an Ecuadorian magazine focused in these areas.

Diana has traveled extensively around Ecuador (a lot by foot and through the mountains since during her free time she practices trail running). She has also backpacked in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela and has run 50km ultratrails in Ecuador, Colombia and at the Argentinian Patagonia. She has also camped in some National Reserves in the US and Canada, and visited Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Austria, among others, knowing she cannot die before diving at the Great Barrier Reef!

Diana is also an active volunteer of the United Nations World Tourism Organization and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Development and Hospitality (and a minor in plastic arts) and a Master’s degree in Social and Environmental studies. Her other hobbies, besides trail running, include other sports such as mountain biking and swimming, and, although she does not claim to be good, she loves photography.

Chloe Green

London Program Director, Roehampton

Chloe acts as the university contact for PAA students studying at Roehampton on semester or summer programmes. She finalizes course schedules, coordinates university orientation events, provides academic advising and acts as a liaison between PAA and Roehampton’s academic departments of dance, theatre, and film.

Chloe is the Study Abroad Manager at the University of Roehampton. Chloe graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in English Language and Linguistics and holds an MA in International Education from the University of Leicester, having studied abroad herself in Brisbane, Australia. Chloe has also lived and worked in Germany, can speak Spanish and French and is currently learning Dutch in her free time. Chloe and her team work closely with Performing Arts Abroad throughout a student’s time in London to ensure they return home having had a transformative experience.

Once an avid dancer, Chloe hung up her dancing shoes at 18 due to injury, but not before in true Harry Potter style, leading her House to victory with a Great Gatsby inspired routine in her school House Arts Cup. Chloe also has a background in theatre, having worked as an elf for 6 years over the Christmas period at an immersive experience based just outside of London. Nowadays, Chloe enjoys watching performances and trying to get the best deals for cheap theatre tickets in London, so be sure to stop by the office for some hot tips!

Chloe believes there is no university quite like Roehampton, from the extra curricula opportunities you can get involved with, to the friendly campus community. She looks forward to seeing you on campus very soon!

Anna Bermani

London Site Director

Anna supports all participants on our programs in London, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in the United Kingdom. She coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing, leads cultural excursions, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Anna holds a B.A. in English and German from Ca’Foscari University of Venice. The Italian village where she was born was never enough for her and from a young age she decided she wanted to see the world and meet a lot of people from different cultures. Fascinated by foreign languages and traveling she first studied abroad in London when she was in high school and then at Humboldt Universität in Berlin a few years after. New York City holds a special place in her heart, ever since she was an intern at the Italian Cultural Institute there.

After volunteering and working for the not-for-profit association AFS Intercultural Program helping hundreds of high school students enroll and prepare for their experience abroad, she moved to London and focused on working with university students. She loves West End musicals, fashion, drinking green tea, spending time at the V&A museum, studying Korean and backpacking throughout Southeast Asia.

Rachel Bingham

London Program Director, Musical Theatre

Rachel leads the training component of our London musical theatre programs. She books studios, hires instructors, coordinates the training schedule, and books tickets for West End shows and backstage tours.

Rachel Bingham is a West End performer and the director of West End On Demand, PAA’s musical theatre training partner in London.

Rachel started dancing at a local dance school at age 3 and it wasn’t long before singing and acting followed. After watching Les Miserables in the West End when she was 10 years old she knew that this was what she wanted to do with her life. She wrote in her diary that her dream was to be in Les Miserables and she was happy to play any part, including the barricade! Rachel then immersed herself in theatre, listening to theatre soundtracks, taking part in lots of local shows and school productions as well as continuing classes. At age 19 Rachel attended the Mountview Academy Of Theatre Arts one of the most prestigious musical theatre colleges in London and from there she got her agent Gilbert And Payne Management and her career began. Rachel has now been working in the theatre industry for 13 years and her dream came true – she was cast in Les Miserables in the West End for two years as Crone, ensemble and first understudy Madame Thenarider.

Rachel’s work includes: Les Miserables (West End), Les Miserables 25th Anniversary (O2 Arena), Billy Elliot (West End), The Sound Of Music (West End), Acorn Antiques The Musical (UK Tour), She Loves Me (Menier Chocolate Factory, London), Jerry Springer The Opera (UK Tour), That Day We Sang (Victoria Wood, Manchester), BBC Proms, London Olympic Opening Ceremony, plus much more. Rachel has also worked in television and as a recording artist.

Rachel started West End On Demand in 2009 as she wanted to share her passion for performing arts with others and encourage people of all ages to feel more confidant and follow their dreams.

Drasko Djurovic

France Site Director

Drasko supports all participants on our France programs, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in the country. He coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing, leads cultural excursions, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Drasko was born in Belgrade, Serbia, and graduated from the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Law, where he also obtained a master’s degree in constitutional law. He worked as an associate in a law firm in Belgrade and was hired by the Official Journal to analyze the jurisprudence of the Serbian highest courts. However, he decided to continue his studies abroad and came to France in 2013, where he obtained a second master’s degree in comparative law at Sorbonne University. Drasko was a participant of numerous seminars, conferences and summer schools in Serbia, France and worldwide. He is a national rowing umpire in Serbia and in France and he raced several half marathons. He accomplished skydiving course and has an international diver certificate. Drasko is a self-proclaimed expert in finding the best low-cost train and airplane tickets.

Mitko Panov

Paris Program Director, Film Programs

Mitko leads the training component of our Paris film programs. He helps select instructors, coordinates the training schedule, works with the local government to approve film sites, and more.

Mitko Panov studied directing at the famed “Lodz Film School” in Poland under the mentorship of Jerzy Kawalerowycz, Wojciech Has and Andrzej Wajda. He received international awards including the Golden Palm for best short film at the Cannes FF and is recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rockefeller Fellowship for US Film and Media artists and the Sundance Film Institute Documentary Film Grant.

His films were aired on major television networks including: PBS, France 3, Canal +, Channel 4, Film 4, Arts & Entertainment, ARTE, ZDF, ARD/BR. They are featured in collections including MOMA, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Chicago Arts Institute (Video Data Bank). His latest film, “The Witness,” featuring Bruno Ganz, Marthe Keller and Padraic Delaney, is scheduled for release in spring, 2017. He is the recipient of two screenwriting awards: Hungarian Pitch Point and Krzysztof Kieslowski Award at Scripteast, Cannes.Mitko has taught and collaborated with number of award winning students including Steve Mc Queen (12 Years a Slave), John Hamburg (Meet The Parents), Joshua Marston, Malcolm Lee, David Riker, Jay Duplass, and Florian Gallenberger.

Mitko was an Assistant Professor of Film Directing at NYU, Graduate Film Program (1992-1995); a founding member of NYFA and creator of its core 8/6/4 Week curriculum (1992-1993); a Visiting Professor – Film Directing – at the German National Film-School, HFF, Munich (1995-2000); an Associate Professor at University of Texas at Austin, RTF Dpt. Graduate Thesis Projects’ Supervisor (1998 – 2008); and FIOFA Ohrid (Outlet of FAMU International – The Prague Film School Visiting Professor, 2017-2018. He also set up NYFA Paris and was its first Program Director 1998/1999.

Joyce Woma

Ghana Co-Site Director

Joyce supports all participants on our Ghana programs, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in the country, along with the Co-Site Director, Michael. She coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing, leads cultural excursions, oversees a talented team of instructors (and teaches herself on some programs), and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Joyce Woma was born on 25th October 1989. She joined the renowned Saakumu Dance Troupe in 2011. After joining Saakumu, within a few years Joyce rose to be one of the lead dancers. During that time Joyce learned and mastered dances from across Ghana.  In 2014 Joyce traveled to the U.S. for three years, where she taught and performed at University. Today, Joyce is currently co-leading Saakumu while filling her role as lead dance teacher at DMC, where she was trained by founder Bernard Woma at the age of 11. These two organizations are leading cultural music teaching and performance, and Joyce is at the forefront of both.

Michael Woma

Ghana Co-Site Director

Michael Woma graduated from Amasaman Senior High School in 2013 where he studied visual and performing arts.

Because of his ability to interact well with people from diverse backgrounds and his ability to be highly adaptable to different working conditions, he was employed by his uncle, Bernard Woma, to work for him at the Dagara Music and Art Center as the Operation and Logistics Manager in 2014. He has since served as a liaison between the DMC director and visiting participants for an average of 10 yearly study abroad programs hosted by the DMC. Since Bernard’s passing, Michael has stepped into the role of interim Site Director where he continues to manage and supervise all of the DMC’s study abroad programs.

Michael is also passionate about being with people who are concerned and interested in developing their communities. In 2015 he became a member of the UK charity organization, Move The World. Alongside his work for the DMC, he has helped organize, execute, and supervise community development programs on the ground in Medie, Ghana for Move the World. He founded Move The World Quiz, a monthly program in local schools that encourages academic achievement through fun, creative quiz games.

Michael looks forward to working with all future PAA participants at the DMC!

Karachaliou Ermioni, Ph.D.

Greece Program Director, Study Abroad Programs

Dr. Ermioni Karachaliou acts as the university contact for PAA students studying at Hellenic American College. She finalizes course schedules, coordinates university orientation events, provides academic advising, arranges housing, and acts as a liaison between PAA and Hellenic American College’s academic departments of music and theatre, including a special relationship with the Philippos Nakos Conservatory for music.

Ermioni Karachaliou received her BArch and MArch from the National Technical University of Athens where she specialized in Architectural Theory of the Byzantine period, and her Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Studies from the University of Manchester (UK). Dr. Karachaliou has taught several courses at the University of Manchester and for private vocational training institutes in Athens. She has also undertaken administrative positions as the Head of the Art & Design Department of IVT Akmi and Delta, has presented papers at numerous international conferences and has published articles in refereed journals. Prior to joining Hellenic American University, she was Curator A’ of the Artist in Residence Program at the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, with the exclusive donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Dr. Karachaliou is also a certified as a classical ballet and modern dance teacher from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and she has studied piano and Theory of Music at the Athens Conservatory. She is, also, a member of the National Technical Chamber of Greece, the Association of Art Historians, the Byzantine Studies Association of North America, and the Medieval Association of the Pacific. She is the Director of Student Affairs and International Programs at Hellenic American University since June 2018.

Evgenia Karamani

Greece Site Director

Evgenia supports all participants on our Athens programs, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in Italy. She coordinates airport pickup, leads cultural excursions, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Evgenia started her professional development as a lawyer having completed a Bachelor’s in Law at Athens University. She practiced law for several years until she decided it was time to follow her passion on understanding and supporting people and enrolled at a Master’s program in Psychology at Hellenic American College. Studying there proved to be a meaningful experience not only in terms of academic development but also through the merging and mingling with students from all different nationalities and background. The seed that had been planted years ago through her own studies abroad in the beautiful French Province started to sprout and Evgenia found herself applying her love for supporting and encouraging people to pursue their dreams and make the most of their experiences, through International Education. She has been the Greece Site Director for Students coming to study in Athens since January 2018 and she is so excited to be the host of what can be a milestone experience in one’s life!

When not sharing Greek cultural events with students, Evgenia practices Greek traditional dancing, as she has been a performer since her early childhood. She also loves to ride her bike uphill and take in the beautiful Athenian sunsets in the Mediterranean Sea.

Alessandro Bruno

Florence Site Director, Film Programs

Alessandro supports all participants on our Florence programs, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in Italy. He coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing, leads cultural excursions, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Born in Maryland, USA, raised in Rome with Italian and Guatemalan parents and having traveled extensively through Europe, Central America, North America and China, Alessandro considers himself a citizen of the world. During his travels, he acquired a passion for the environment, its preservation, cultures and languages. This passion led him to obtain a BA in Geography with a minor in Chinese Studies from Humboldt State University in California. In 2010 he spent a semester studying abroad at the University of Shanghai in China and this outstanding experience turned him into an even stronger proponent of study abroad programs, no matter where. After graduation, his passion for the outdoors and the environment led him to successfully complete the National Park Service Ranger Academy as well as the National Outdoor Leadership School Wilderness First Responder certification. Wanting to get back into the international education world, he moved to Florence at the beginning of 2013 and has coordinated several study abroad programs in Florence and throughout Italy. Some of his hobbies are learning new languages (he speaks English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French along with some German and Mandarin), cooking, traveling, sharing what he knows of this wonderful part of the world, and learning from other cultures.

Cristiana Gallai

Florence Program Director, FUA

Cristiana coordinates all programming in collaboration with the Florence University of the Arts, including our semester and summer study programs and internships in Florence. She finalizes course schedules, coordinates university orientation events, provides academic advising, facilitates internship placements, and acts as a liaison between PAA and FUA’s academic departments of music and dance.

Cristiana graduated from the Università degli Studi di Firenze in 2008 with a Masters degree in Foreign Languages: English and Japanese. Her passion for international education and study abroad started at a young age with several summer study abroad experiences in the UK. At the end of her first year of university she decided to spend the three-month break in Boston, MA where she was able to enhance her understanding of the US culture and further improve her English. The following year she spent a semester in Paris, France, taking courses at the “Denis Diderot-Paris VII” through the ERASMUS project. Cristiana began working at Florence University of the Arts in 2007. Having gained experience in various departments of the university, since 2010 Cristiana is the Dean of Student Affairs. At the same time she also coordinates the various internship and experiential learning project opportunities at the school. A local Florentine, Cristiana has a wealth of knowledge to share with students about her hometown. She loves nothing more than spending her free time in the traditional artisan quarters of the city and encourages students to explore the lesser known areas of Florence.

Diana Santi

Florence Program Director, Film Programs

Diana leads the training component of our Florence film programs. She helps select instructors, coordinates the training schedule, works with the local government to approve film sites, and more.

Diana Santi, Director of New York Film Academy Florence, is an award-winning documentary, commercial, and short films director and producer. She graduated in Film Studies from the Università di Bologna, Maxima cum Laude. In 2004, Diana moved to Los Angeles where she attended the New York Film Academy at Universal Studios obtaining a diploma in Filmmaking. Since 2006, she has been the Overseas Programs Director for the New York Film Academy where her major duties and responsibilities are: liaison with the Italian Film Industry (Cinecittá, Gruppo Mediaset, Panavision, Euro Lab) including establishing contacts with top Italian film directors and actors such as Nanni Moretti, Vittorio Storaro, Dario Argento, and Giorgio Pasotti to name a few. In August 2011, Diana founded Purple Reel Productions and with the support of the Tuscan Film Commission and the City of Florence, she directed a 15-minute comedy titled, “Florence in Love,” that made it to the top 30 of the David di Donatello awards.

Jude Bersoza

Philippines Site Director

Jude supports all participants on our Philippines programs, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in the country. He coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing by vetting homestay families and building relationships, leads cultural excursions, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Jude is 39 years old, married, and a father to four lovely kids. He graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He had his previous employment in a government-owned corporation where he worked for almost 15 years under its several departments. Having witnessed and experienced the devastation brought by supertyphoon Yolanda to the lives of the people in Tacloban, he never hesitated to lend a hand to the community when the opportunity came. He joined Performing Arts Abroad’s onsite partner, Volunteer for the Visayans (VFV) in February of 2016, and started as an Assistant Volunteer Program Coordinator looking after international and local volunteers alike, doing program orientation, city tour, placement orientation and basic waray-waray lessons for them. Presently, he is the Lead Volunteer Program Coordinator, and he basically performs the same tasks while at the same time making collaborations and communicating with international volunteer organizations and partners and processing applications from volunteers. To him, his work has been a rewarding and fun experience and he’s looking forward to more years of making a difference with VFV and PAA. On a more personal note, he would describe himself as a silent, shy-type of person but nevertheless loves to hang around with his family and close friends.

Frances Hyson

South Africa Site Director

Frances is in charge of all volunteers and interns in White River, and acts as their day-to-day main point of contact. For interns, she acts as their main supervisor and creates a customized schedule and training plan with each one. For all participants, she leads an orientation to the program and city, coordinates schedules, and is always available to address any issues that arise.

Frances Hyson, now running the Casterbridge Music Development Academy in Mpumalanga, South Africa, has been involved in many aspects of education for many years: initially, a teacher of children in their first years of school and later as an administrator – as head of a department and as a deputy head of a large private school in White River. For the past 7 years, Frances has been involved in adult education, working with a programme aimed at uplifting and improving the qualifications of drivers employed in a courier company.

Frances is passionate about the community in which she lives and is an active member of the local Rotary Club engaged in many projects to improve the lives of people living in the local communities. She is currently the president of the Rotary Club of White River. She and her husband have lived in White River for 40 years and they have one daughter and two grandchildren also living in the same town.

Rich Kurtzman

Spain Site Director

Rich supports all participants on our Spain programs. He oversees a team that coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing, leads cultural excursions, facilitates internship placements, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone.

Rich Kurtzman has been living in and loving Barcelona since 2002. Originally from Chicago, Rich took his passion for Spanish language, study abroad and all things Spain to Barcelona to work with students and hasn’t looked back since.

Rich studied abroad twice in college – in St. Petersburg, Russia and Madrid, Spain – and participated in an internship in a study abroad office in Milan. He has a variety of experience working in international education from advising students in the U.S. to teaching Spanish Culture and Intercultural Communication courses, to Director of his own organization.

While he does not have much Performing Arts experience (unless you consider playing the Rabbi in his high school production of Fiddler on the Roof, or a couple years in show choir), Rich has a huge admiration for the Arts and loves working with the students in Barcelona whether they are on stage, behind the scenes, singing, dancing or similar.

He looks forward to working with all the future Performing Arts Abroad participants who plan to come to Barcelona and following in the footsteps of other Barcelona alumni who have been able to do solo performances, and worked to make productions big and small come to life.

Disan Kato

Uganda Site Director

Disan supports all participants on our Uganda programs, acting as the main point of contact throughout their stay in the country. He coordinates airport pickup, arranges housing by vetting homestay families and building relationships, leads cultural excursions, and manages the 24-hour onsite emergency phone. He is also the director of our onsite partner, the Living Music Foundation.

Disan Kato was born in 1983 to the late Mr. Samuel Kato and the late Mrs. Kobusingye Merab at Mabaare Masheruka Sub-county Sheema District. He grew up at the mercy of good samaritans, an orphan of HIV, having lost two brothers before he was yet born.

Generous people helped him through school until one man identified the music in him and chose to develop it, teaching him to play musical  instruments and vocals over 12 years!
This enabled Disan to continue at school, using income from his musical endeavours. He did begin studying computer science at Mbarara University, however failed to raise the tuition fees and was forced to drop out.

He decided to concentrate on his music career, working at Train the Youth Effort where he trained nine children to create a school band. During this time he wrote and recorded songs that propelled him towards fame in Western Uganda.

Currently his live band, the Vessels, are very popular. He trained the members himself from having no musical experience into professional performers. Their music is on all local radio stations and television. Because of Disan’s inspiring story, schools, universities, NGOs, churches and other youth organisations invite him to explain how music has transformed him so others can learn through him. He is also invited to radio and TV talk shows to inspire the public. Disan started the Living Music Foundation as a way to improve the lives of other vulnerable children through music.

Disan is happily married to Alum Catherine with whom they have two children. They chose to stay in Mbarara and raise their family.