Chicago Symphony Appoints Venezuelan Violinist Gabriela Lara

Lara is the first CSO player to be appointed by Klaus Mäkelä

The Venezuelan violinist Gabriela Lara has become the first musician appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) by incoming Music Director Klaus Mäkelä, who will take over the direction of the orchestra in 2027. She was also the inaugural player selected for the CSO's Fellowship program, which she undertook between 2022 and 2024.

Lara first began studying the violin in her hometown of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, where took part in the Latin American Violin Academy with teachers José Francisco del Castillo and Francisco Diaz. She took part in El Sistema and also toured Europe with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.

After relocating to the United States, Lara was runner-up at the 2021 Sphinx Solo Competition and the winner of the 2021 Frank Preuss International Violin Competition. She was also the recipient of a 2022 Project Inclusion Fellowship from the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.

She has been one of two rotating concertmasters in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, before being appointed to the second violin section of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra — a post she will leave to return to Chicago.

"The fellowship gave me an opportunity that otherwise I wouldn’t have had," Lara said. "Just by being there, playing alongside these amazing people — musicians, conductors and soloists — you can get so much out of that. I was always trying to absorb as many things as I could. The fellowship played a big part in getting me where I am today."

"A big part of my preparation was mentally getting over the performance anxiety and trying to visualize how I’d feel when I’m playing out there," she added of the audition experience. "And trying to have my mind focused, but also as clear as possible from anything apart from, ‘You’re going to do your best, and that’s all that matters.'"