Fabien Gabel Conducts French Masterworks

Hailed as “boldly evocative,” Fabien Gabel is recognized internationally as one of the stars of a new generation of conductors, having established a broad repertoire ranging from core symphonic works to contemporary new works and championing lesser-known works by French composers. His conducting has taken him across the globe to lead top orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Houston Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Seoul Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra D.C., Frankfurt Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Tonkünstler Orchester, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Warsaw Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Orchestre National de France, and Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

His 2020–21 season includes debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in addition to returns to the Houston Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Following his successful eight year tenure as Music Director of Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Gabel returns to the orchestra for several programs as Music Advisor. In France he gives concerts with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique du Capitole de Toulouse and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, and appears twice with Orchestre Français des Jeunes, of which he is Music Director.

Gabel has worked with the world’s most formidable soloists including Emanuel Ax, Seong-Jin Cho, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Alina Pogostkina, Julian Steckel, Johannes Moser, Antonio Meneses, Marc-André Hamelin, Beatrice Rana, Gautier Capuçon, Simone Lamsma, Xavier de Maistre, and Bertrand Chamayou, and singers such as Anne Sophie Von Otter, Michael Schade, Petra Lang, Jennifer Larmore, Measha Brueggergosman, Danielle de Niese, Natalie Dessay, and Marie-Nicole Lemieux.

Gabel first attracted international attention in 2004 winning the Donatella Flick competition in London, which subsequently led to his appointment as the LSO’s assistant conductor for two seasons. Since then, the LSO has engaged him regularly as a guest conductor.

Born in Paris into a family of accomplished musicians, Gabel began studying trumpet at the age of six, honing his skills at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, which awarded him a First Prize in trumpet in 1996, and later at the Musik Hochschule of Karlsruhe. He went on to play in several Parisian orchestras under the direction of prominent conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, and Bernard Haitink. In 2002, Fabien Gabel pursued his interest in conducting at the Aspen Summer Music Festival, where he studied with David Zinman, who invited him to appear as a guest conductor at the Festival in 2009. He has worked as an assistant to Bernard Haitink and Sir Colin Davis. In 2020, Gabel was awarded the rank of Chevalier (Knight) by the Conseil de l’Ordes des Arts et des Lettres, a recognition given by France’s Ministry of Culture.