Gabriel Cabezas

Cellist Gabriel Cabezas is a prolific and sought-after soloist and collaborator. Praised for his artistry and charisma, he is as comfortable interpreting new works as he is with the pillar scores of the cello repertoire and was named one of the “Composers and Performers to Watch” by the Washington Post. Gabriel has appeared with America’s finest symphony orchestras and has inspired and premiered dozens of new works by vanguard composers of the 21st century.

Gabriel is known for his extensive creative partnership with composer Gabriella Smith. Together, they released Lost Coast, a dynamic album of original music composed by Smith in response to climate change, which she has seen devastate her home state of California. It was named one of NPR Music’s “Favorite Albums Of 2021” and was featured by the New York Times as a “Classical Album to Hear Right Now.” The album was released on the Icelandic record label Bedroom Community. The duo Gabriella Smith & Gabriel Cabezas continues to write and record. Their live performance highlights in the 2025-26 season include appearances at Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center, Seattle Symphony’s Octave 9, LA Phil’s Green Umbrella series, and San Francisco Symphony's SoundBox series.

Gabriel premiered Smith’s concerto Lost Coast, a reimagining of the album as a daring work for solo cello and orchestra, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel in May 2023. In the 2025-26 season, Cabezas will perform Smith’s Lost Coast concerto in a pair of transatlantic performances with conductor Gemma New, first with the BBC Philharmonic for the piece’s UK premiere and then with the Seattle Symphony, where Gabriel will serve as the orchestra's Artist in Focus. He will also perform this signature work with the Chicago Symphony under Esa-Pekka Salonen. Past performances include appearances with the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra under Cristian Măcelaru, the Prague Symphony Orchestra under Tomáš Brauner, and the New York Philharmonic under John Adams.

Gabriel is a member of the genre-leading chamber sextet yMusic. Their virtuosic execution and unique configuration have attracted high profile collaborators—from Paul Simon to Bill T. Jones to Ben Folds— and inspired an expanding repertoire of original works by prominent composers including Caroline Shaw, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly and Andrew Norman. The ensemble recently released their first album of self-composed work, titled YMUSIC. Written collaboratively by all six musicians, YMUSIC represents a creative breakthrough for the ensemble. “They’ve transcended all the conventions that they were trained in” (NPR Music), presenting "one of the most exciting and confident chamber music releases of the year” (Strings Magazine). yMusic’s most recent composition project, an evening-length work in collaboration with choreographer Kyle Abraham, Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful, premiered across ten performances in New York at the Park Avenue Armory in December 2024.

Gabriel also co-founded the string group Owls, described as “a dream group...” by the New York Times. The quartet weaves together new compositions with fresh arrangements of music ranging from the 1600s to the present, made distinctive by the group’s unique instrumentation of violin, viola, and two cellos. Their debut album, Rare Birds, was released in 2025 on New Amsterdam Records to wide acclaim.

Gabriel has recorded extensively as a studio musician, appearing on releases by Phoebe Bridgers, John Legend, Rufus Wainright and Taylor Swift, among many others. In 2016, Gabriel received the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, a career grant awarded to extraordinary classical Black and Latinx musicians, who, early in their professional career, demonstrate artistic excellence, outstanding work ethic, a spirit of determination, and ongoing commitment to leadership. Gabriel studied at the Curtis Institute of Music under Carter Brey.