Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Martinez has a reputation for the lyricism of her playing, her compelling interpretations, and her elegant stage presence.  Her playing has been described as “magical… a remarkable pianist, with a cool determination, a tone full of glowing color and a seemingly effortless technique” (Mark Swed/LA Times) and “compelling …versatile, daring and insightful” (New York Times).

Gabriela made her orchestral debut at age 6, and has performed with over 100 orchestras since including the San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Grand Rapids, New Jersey, Tucson, Pacific and Fort Worth symphonies, Buffalo Philharmonic; Germany’s Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nurnberger Philharmoniker; Canada’s Victoria Symphony Orchestra; the Costa Rica National Symphony, and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. She has performed with Gustavo Dudamel, James Gaffigan, James Conlon, JoAnn Falleta, Michael Francis, Marcelo Lehninger and Guillermo Figueroa, among many others.

Gabriela is passionate about new music, and has commissioned and premiered works by many composers including Mason Bates, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Paola Prestini, Jessica Meyer, and Dan Visconti.  Gabriela’s debut album, Amplified Soul, was released on the Delos label, and was recognized with a GRAMMY Award for Producer of the Year, David Frost.

She has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Merkin Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City; San Diego’s The Rady Shell, Canada’s Glenn Gould Studio; Salzburg’s Grosses Festspielhaus; Dresden’s Semperoper; Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens; and Paris’s Palace of Versailles.  She has performed at festivals such as the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Colorado and Rockport festivals in the United States; Germany’s Dresden Music Festival; Italy’s Festival dei Due Mondi (Spoleto); Switzerland’s Verbier Festival and Snow and Symphony Festival; the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier; and Japan’s Tokyo International Music Festival.   Her performances have been featured on National Public Radio, CNN, PBS, 60 Minutes, ABC, From the Top, Radio France, WQXR and WNYC (New York), MDR Kultur and Deutsche Welle (Germany), NHK (Japan), RAI (Italy), and on numerous television and radio stations in Venezuela.

Gabriela was the First Prize winner of the Anton G. Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Dresden, and a semifinalist at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where she also received the Jury Discretionary Award.  She is a 5th generation female pianist, and began her piano studies in Caracas with her mother, Alicia Gaggioni.  She then attended The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees as a full scholarship student of Yoheved Kaplinsky. Ms. Martinez was a member of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and worked on her doctoral studies with Marco Antonio de Almeida in Halle, Germany. Gabriela is a member of the artist faculty at Brevard Music Center.