Silk Road Ensemble Composers and Arrangers

Gabriela Lena Frank
composer (b. 1972, United States)

A member of G. Schirmer’s prestigious roster of artists, Gabriela Lena Frank has been hailed as representing “the next generation of American composers.” Her work has been elected to Chamber Music America’s list of “Top One Hundred and One Great American Ensemble Works” and incorporate Latino/Latin American mythology, archeology, art, poetry, and folk music into western classical forms, reflecting her Peruvian-Jewish heritage. Such compositions exhibit  “honesty and genius” (Springfield Union-News), “unself-conscious craft and mastery” (Washington Post), and “brilliantly effective writing” and “an immediate appeal” (New York Times); they have furthermore been described as  “luminous… burst[ing] with fresh originality” (Los Angeles Times), “of unearthly beauty” (Miami Sun-Sentinel), and “brilliant” (Salt Lake Tribune).

Upcoming premieres include New Andean Songs for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella new music series; Inca Suite for guitarist Manuel Barrueco and the Cuarteto Latinoamericano; Peregrinos for the Indianapolis Symphony; and additional works for guitarist Sharon Isbin, the Chiara Quartet, the Concertante sextet, the Adorno Ensemble with two-time Naumberg winner soprano Lucy Shelton, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the Modesto Symphony, and a consortium comprising of the Young People’s Chorus of New York, the San Francisco Girl’s Choir and the Glen Ellyn Children’s Choir.

Select recent premieres include Quijotadas (2007) by the Brentano String Quartet; Soliloquio Serrano (2007) for pipa virtuoso Wu Man; Jalapeño Blues (2006) for the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer, based on the Spanglish poetry of renowned Chicano poet Trinidad Sánchez; Compadrazgo (2007), a cello/piano double concerto for directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center David Finckel and Wu Han with the ProMusica Orchestra; Danza de los Saqsampillos (2007) for the Bavarian Opera House; La Llorona: Tone Poem for Viola and Orchestra (2007) for the Houston Symphony with principal Wayne Brooks under the baton of Hans Graf; Dos Canciones de Cifar (2007) for baritone/piano commissioned by the Marilyn Horne Foundation with Carnegie Hall and Ritmos Anchinos (2006) for Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project with Carnegie Hall.

Active as a pianist, Gabriela recorded the complete solo piano and violin/piano compositions of Pulitzer Prize winning composer Leslie Bassett on the Equilibrium label, for which the American Record Guide describes her performance as one of "care and enthusiasm." She currently collaborates with renowned Peruvian ethnomusicologist Raul Romero in recording the piano music of indigenous composers of coastal and Andean Peru.

In terms of long-term projects, Gabriela is currently crafting several opera libretti on Latin American folkloric and/or contemporary topics, including La Historia Oficial (The Official Story) about the disappearance of civilians during Argentina’s “dirty war” of the 1980s and the ongoing protests by the famed Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. She is working with the 2003 Pulitzer-winner Cuban playwright Nilo Cruz on an opera about Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

A great supporter of community outreach, Gabriela has taken part in residency projects with many orchestras including the San Francisco and Seattle Symphonies, the Aspen Music Festival, the Spencer Museum of Art with the University of Kansas Music Department, the American Composers Forum, the state of Michigan's Gus Harrison Correctional Facility, and various others. She was recently composer-in-residence with the Nashville Symphony as part of the American Encores series in 2006-2007, currently serves as composer-in residence with the Modesto Symphony and the Fort Worth Symphony in 2007-2008, and will serve as composer-in-residence with the Indianapolis Symphony in 2008-2009. Gabriela also frequently serves as composer-in-residence with academic institutions. She is a frequent guest at schools and festivals not only in North America but throughout Latin America as well.

Born in Berkeley, CA in 1972, Gabriela holds degrees from Rice University and a doctorate (2001) from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her composition teachers have included William Albright, Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty and Samuel Jones. Her piano studies have been with Jeanne Kierman Fischer and Logan Skelton. She currently makes her home in the San Francisco Bay Area and travels often in Latin America. Her music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer.