Composers
Gabriela Lena Frank
© Sabina Frank
Born: 1972
Brief Biography:
Identity has always been at the center of Gabriela Lena Frank's music. Born in Berkeley, California, to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. She has travelled extensively throughout South America and her pieces reflect and refract her studies of Latin-American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own. She writes challenging idiomatic parts for solo instrumentalists, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and orchestras.For a complete biography, click here.
Key Works:- Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
(2001; string quartet or string orchestra) - Illapa: Tone Poem for Flute and Orchestra
(2004; flute, orchestra) - Three Latin American Dances
(2004; orchestra) - La Llorona: Tone Poem for Viola and Orchestra
(2007; viola, orchestra) - Quijotadas (2007; string quartet)
- Peregrinos
(2009; orchestra)
| Career Highlights:- 2000 Premiered Sonata Andina at Washington DC's National Museum for Women in the Arts
- 2002 Awarded first Raymond and Beverly Sackler Composition Prize
- 2004 Invited to Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute led by Dawn Upshaw and John Harbison
- 2005 Premieres by Kronos Quartet and the Seattle Symphony
- 2008 Premieres by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Manuel Barrueco with Cuarteto Latinoamericano
- 2008 Awarded the Brillante Prize by the Hispanic Scholarship Foundation
- 2009 Received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
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Critical Acclaim:
With each new piece, Frank becomes a more exciting and necessary voice.
— Los Angeles Times
...crafted with unselfconscious mastery.
— Washington Post
Gabriela Lena Frank, an up-and-coming composer, is an exciting addition to the oeuvre of classical music.
— Deseret Morning News
Full Biography:
Identity has always been at the center of Gabriela Lena Frank's music. Born in Berkeley, California, to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. She has traveled extensively throughout South America and her pieces reflect and refract her studies of Latin-American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own. She writes challenging idiomatic parts for solo instrumentalists, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and orchestras.
Moreover, she writes, "There's usually a story line behind my music; a scenario or character." While the enjoyment of her works can be obtained solely from her music, the composer's program notes enhance the listener's experience, for they describe how a piano part mimics a marimba or pan-pipes, or how a movement is based on a particular type of folk song, where the singer is mockingly crying. Even a brief glance at her titles evokes specific imagery: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout; Cuatro Canciones Andinas; and Ríos Profundos. Frank's compositions also reflect her virtuosity as a pianist — when not composing, she is a sought-after performer, specializing in contemporary repertoire.
A 2009 recipient of a prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship to assist in research and artistic creation, Frank’s upcoming premieres include a new work for the King’s Singers, a concert opener for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and additional works for guitarist Sharon Isbin, the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma, the Chiara Quartet, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. A frequent collaborator with artists in other disciplines, Frank is developing a number of projects with the Pulitzer Prize winning Cuban playwright Nilo Cruz.
Recent premieres include Inca Dances (2008) for Manuel Barrueco and Cuarteto Latinoamericano which was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition in 2009; New Andean Songs for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella new music series; Inca Dance 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, American Portraits? for the Modesto Symphony, and Two Mountain Songs for 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.
Having collaborated with a broad range of artists, Frank's other works include Quijotadas (2007) by the Brentano String Quartet; Jalapeño Blues (2006) for Chanticleer based on the Spanglish poetry of renowned Chicano poet Trinidad Sánchez; Compadrazgo (2007), a double concerto for David Finckel and Wu Han with the ProMusica Orchestra; 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 and piano commissioned by the Marilyn Horne Foundation with Carnegie Hall; Ritmos Anchinos (2006) for the Silk Road Project; Cinco Danzas de Chambi (2006) for viola and piano commissioned by the Aspen Summer Music Festival; Canto de Harawi (2006) for the Da Camera Society of Houston; Manchay Tiempo (2005) for the Seattle Symphony under the baton of Jun Märkl; Inkarrí (2005) for the Kronos Quartet; Illapa: Tone Poem for Flute and Orchestra (2004) for flautist Leone Buyse and the Shepherd Symphony Orchestra; and Three Latin-American Dances (2004) for the Utah Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Keith Lockhart.
Three Latin-American Dances was subsequently recorded by the Utah Symphony for the Reference Recording Label and has been hailed as "dazzling" and exhibiting "wit, brilliance, atmosphere, and poetry (Classics Today), and "a rare treasure of modern orchestral music" (Hong Kong/China Hi Fi Review). Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout (2001), performed by its commissioner, the Chiara String Quartet, was released in early 2007 on the New Voice Singles label. In reference to this recording, the American Record Guide called Gabriela "a remarkable composer." Recent recordings include Compadrazgo with soloists David Finckel and Wu Han with the ProMusica Orchestra; Inca Dance with guitarist Manuel Barrueco and the Cuarteto Latinoamericano released on the Tonar Music Label; and several chamber/orchestral works for the Filarmonika label as part of the groundbreaking Caminos del Inka project under the directorship of conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
Frank attended Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she earned both a BA (1994) and MA (1996). She studied composition with Paul Cooper, Ellsworth Milburn, and Sam Jones, and piano with Jeanne Kierman Fischer. Frank credits Fischer with introducing her to the music of Ginastera, Bartók, and other composers who utilized folk elements in their work. At the University of Michigan, from which she received a DMA in composition in 2001, Frank studied composition with William Albright, William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, and Michael Daugherty, and piano with Logan Skelton.
Gabriela Lena Frank's music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer.
— September 2009
For specific inquiries about this composer, please contact Katy Tucker at katy.tucker(at)schirmer.com or (212) 254-2100 ext. 134.
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