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Costa Rican pianist Dr. Gabriela Calderón Cornejo is a multifaceted musician whose creative voice and wide-ranging artistry encompass solo performance, chamber musician, collaborative piano, adjudication, and teaching. She has cultivated her career through projects and organizations across Costa Rica, the United States, and Europe, including work with wind ensembles, choirs and orchestras, as well as world premiers, recording collaborations, and interdisciplinary projects with theater, visual arts, and dance.
Her project Musas, dedicated to rediscovering, adapting, and promoting works by historically overlooked women composers, has been featured at international conferences, concert series, as well as radio, podcast, and magazine interviews. The first volume culminated in the release of her debut studio album and digital anthology featuring works by Latin American women composers. Recently, she released Musas Vol. II: Echoes of Immigration, highlighting works by immigrant women composers. Together with her colleague Astrid Morales Torres, she continues to champion underrepresented voices through their piano duet program Celebrating Women in Music: Exploring Works for Piano Duet.
Gabriela actively contributes to the profession through teaching, performing, adjudicating, and participating in conferences and leadership positions. She serves on both the San Francisco/East Bay and the Executive Board of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT). She has also served as the Branch Recital Director for the Music Teachers' Association of California (MTAC) - San Mateo County [2022-204] and as board member of the Cayambis Institute for Latin American Studies in Music (CILASiM) [2021-2024]. As an adjudicator, Gabriela has participated in MTAC’s Certificate of Merit (CM), the United States Open Music Competition (USOMC), and more recently, the Foundation for Bolivian Artists, Kantuta Concerts: Opus Two and the Autumn Festival organized by MTAC’s Palo Alto Branch.
Gabriela holds a Bachelor of Music and Licentiate of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Costa Rica, a Masters of Music in Piano Performance from Ithaca College, and a Doctor of Arts in Piano Performance with a Certificate in Entrepreneurial Music from Ball State University. Currently, she maintains an active performing and teaching career, and is a faculty member at the Community School for Music and Arts (CSMA), Cañada College, Skyline College, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM).
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