Gabrielle Després
ViolinCanadian violinist Gabrielle Després has garnered numerous awards, including first prizes in the Irving M. Klein International String Competition and the Juilliard Concerto Competition. She also earned top prizes in the Michael Hill, Elmar Oliveira and Washington International Violin Competitions, as well as awards at the Schiermonnikoog Festival and Verbier Festival Academy. In 2024, she was a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award, as well as the William Schuman Prize of Juilliard. In 2020, she was included in CBC’s list of 30 Canadian Classical Musicians under 30.
As a soloist, she has performed with the Juilliard Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, the Lynn Philharmonia, the Peninsula Symphony, and Kollective366. She has also given recitals through the St. Albert Chamber Music Society, Gualala Chamber Music, the Kelowna Chamber Music Society, the Schiermonnikoog Festival, the Peninsula Symphony’s AllStars@Home series, and the University of Alberta’s Virtual Prism series. She served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra for two years, during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, including a performance of Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano.
An avid chamber musician, Gabrielle recently performed at Music in the Vineyards, Schiermonnikoog Festival, and the Edmonton Summer Solstice Music Festival as well as with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and If Music Be the Food NYC. Passionate about expanding the reach of music, Gabrielle spent 2021-2022 performing as a Gluck Community Engagement Fellow, working to create interactive programs that merge music and theatre to share across various hospitals and nursing homes throughout New York City. She also works with Project: Music Heals Us in their “Music for the Future” program, teaching and performing for incarcerated individuals at different detention centers throughout California.
Gabrielle received a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music at the Juilliard School as a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. She is currently pursuing her Artist Diploma at Juilliard, studying with Catherine Cho. Her past mentors include Donald Weilerstein, Joseph Lin, Masao Kawasaki, Robert Uchida, and James Keene. Gabrielle has won major awards from the province of Alberta, Canada, including the Queen’s Jubilee Award, the Anne Burrows Music Foundation Award, the Ranald and Vera Shean Memorial Scholarship, and the Winspear Fund Scholarship, which have helped support her studies. Gabrielle has spent her summers studying at the Orford Summer Music Academy, Morningside Music Bridge, the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix International Music Academy, the Aspen Music Festival as a New Horizons Fellow, Kneisel Hall, the Perlman Music Program, and the Verbier Festival Academy.
Gabrielle currently plays on a violin of Zosimo Bergonzi and a bow of Étienne Pajeot, graciously provided to her by CANIMEX INC., from Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. She gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation in supporting her education and career development.