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Costa Rican pianist Dr. Gabriela Calderón Cornejo is a multifaceted musician with a unique voice full of creative approaches. Gabriela has acquired wide-ranging experience as a solo performer, chamber musician, collaborative pianist, adjudicator, and teacher through her involvement in numerous projects and organizations in Costa Rica, the United States, and Europe. Her experiences also include involvement in a variety of wind ensembles, choirs, and orchestras, world premiere of compositions, recording collaborations, and interdisciplinary activities with theater, visual arts, and dance.
Her work in rediscovering, adapting, and promoting previously undigitized works by Latin American female composers has been featured at international conferences and concert series, as well as radio, podcast, and magazine interviews, culminating in the release of her first studio album and digital anthology Musas. Recently, Gabriela has joined forces with her friend and colleague, Astrid Morales Torres, to also promote piano works for piano 4-hand by women composers from around the globe with their program: Celebrating Women in Music: Exploring Works for Piano Duet.
Gabriela is an active member of the U.S. most prominent music organizations and contributes to the profession by teaching, performing, participating in conferences, and serving on board of directors, such as, the Music Teachers' Association of California (MTAC) - San Mateo County: Branch Recital Director [2022-204], the Cayambis Institute for Latin American Studies in Music (CILASiM) [2021-2024], and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT). Gabriela has also acted as an adjudicator for 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.
On the undergraduate level, Gabriela completed a Bachelor of Music and Licentiate of Music Degrees in Piano Performance at the University of Costa Rica. She then completed a Master's of Music Degree in Piano Performance at Ithaca College and earned her Doctor of Arts degree in Piano Performance at Ball State University, with a Certificate in Entrepreneurial Music. Currently, it is her ambition to continue a well-rounded performing and teaching career accentuated by her minor as an entrepreneur. Gabriela is a faculty member at the Community School for Music and Arts (CSMA) and both Cañada and Skyline College.
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