The "Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra" is a symphony orchestra of international renown, whose character has been shaped by several generations of musicians, longstanding collaboration with each of the six chief conductors and the unique acoustic properties of the Concertgebouw’s main hall.

The Orchestra has gained its unique international position with its ‘velvet’ strings, ‘golden’ brass and the exceptional and personal timbre of the woodwinds. The musicians are the guardians of the playing culture that gives the Orchestra its unique sound and flexibility. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra consists of 120 virtuosos who perform together at the highest level.

During the fifty years of Willem Mengelberg’s reign, a wide variety of composers such as Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra several times. Celebrities such as Béla Bartók, Sergey Rachmaninoff and Sergey Prokofiev performed their own works as soloists. This crucial bond with contemporary composers was continued with Bruno Maderna, Peter Schat, Luciano Berio, Hans Werner Henze, Luigi Nono and John Adams, and is still RCO policy.

The guest conductors
The Concertgebouw Orchestra has worked with many world?famous guest conductors, each of whom made a unique contribution to the development of the Orchestra’s sound and the repertoire, including Arthur Nikisch, Karl Muck, Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Rafael Kubelik, Pierre Monteux, Eugen Jochum, Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, George Szell, Carlos Kleiber, Leonard Bernstein, Colin Davis, Kurt Sanderling, Kirill Kondrashin, Carlo Maria Giulini, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and honorary guest conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Born in Caracas Venezuela, Gabriela gave her first public performance at the age of five. Aged eight she made her concerto debut with the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra 'Simon Bolivar' conducted by Jose Antonio Abreu, was granted a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in the USA, and rapidly gained recognition in Europe, the USA and South America. At twelve she won the Baldwin National Competition and AMSA Young Artist International Piano Competition, performing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

A former student of Lyl Tiempo, Andrez Esterhazy and Professor Hamish Milne at the Royal Academy of Music London, Gabriela has won international accolades including the Bronze Medal at the 13th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1995.