Российская академия музыки имени Гнесиных
During the Soviet era, the Pavlova family was transferred to Moscow in 1961, where Alla studied music in the Gnessin State Musical College. She studied with Armen Shakhbagyan, a composer with a reputation established in the 1970s, and paid special attention to the works of Anna Akhmatova. This influenced a good part of her production until the 1990s.