An outright sensation
-LA Times
Her music, in addition to its fascination with the natural world, exudes inventiveness with a welcoming personality, rousing energy and torrents of joy — not to mention an infectious groove.
-New York Times
Gabriella Smith
Composer, Vocalist, Instrumentalist
Management:
James Lemkin | Eclipse Projects
james@eclipseprojects.org
Publishing:
Dan Coleman | Modern Works Music Publishing
dan.coleman@modernworkspub.com
Gabriella Smith is a composer whose work invites listeners to find joy in climate action. Her music comes from a love of play, exploring new instrumental sounds, and creating musical arcs that transport audiences into sonic landscapes inspired by the natural world. An “outright sensation” (LA Times), her music "exudes inventiveness with a welcoming personality, rousing energy and torrents of joy” (NY Times).
Lost Coast, a concerto for cello and orchestra, written for her longtime collaborator Gabriel Cabezas, received its world premiere in May 2023 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. This work joins her organ concerto, Breathing Forests, written for James McVinnie also premiered by the LA Phil, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Other current projects include Keep Going, a large-scale work for Kronos Quartet, commissioned in celebration of their 50th anniversary season, and Aquatic Ecology, an album-length work for yMusic featuring underwater field recordings. In December 2023, her work Tumblebird Contrails was performed on the Nobel Prize Concert by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Her first full-length album, titled Lost Coast, was recorded with Gabriel Cabezas and producer Nadia Sirota at Greenhouse Studios in Iceland and named one of NPR Music’s “26 Favorite Albums Of 2021” and a “Classical Album to Hear Right Now” by The New York Times. Gabriel and Gabriella, as a cello-violin-voice-electronics duo, have performed together around the world, including in Reykjavík, New York City, and Paris.
Gabriella grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area playing and writing music, hiking, backpacking, and volunteering on a songbird research project.
Carrot Revolution
by Gabriella Smith
performed by the Aizuri Quartet
Bard of a Wasteland
from the album Lost Coast
performed by Gabriella Smith and Gabriel Cabezas
Video by Darian Donovan Thomas
Maré
by Gabriella Smith
performed by the yMusic