Composer of the Month: Gabriela Lena Frank
When it comes to August’s composer of the month, there’s no question that Gabriela Lena Frank deserves some recognition. Known to many as a musical anthropologist, Frank’s unique delivery of contemporary classical music is treasured as both a composer and a pianist. Let’s explore the life and accomplishments of this California native.
The Musical Contributions of Composer Gabriela Lena Frank
Gabriela Lena Frank was born in September of 1972 in Berkeley, California. Her mother’s Peruvian and Chinese descent and father’s Lithuanian and Jewish descent were the inspiration behind the essence of her musical contributions. Frank’s own music reflects this as she has spent decades exploring her multicultural heritage through her contributions. In fact, Frank traveled extensively through South America for creative exploration for her works.
Inspired by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank’s most valuable works reflect her own experience as a multi-racial Latina.
One of the greatest attributes of her music is her ability to add a storyline to each piece. It was through her creative exploration travels that Frank learned to incorporate poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into her western classical frameworks. These frameworks became widely recognized as unique to the magical style of Frank, who further incorporated her storylines into her pieces by adding program notes to enhance her listener’s experience. For example, Frank would describe how a particular piano part would mimic a marimba or how a movement was inspired by a particular type of folk song from her Latin culture.
You’ll find examples of Frank’s unique musical style and how she incorporates elicit sounds of Latin American instruments in many of the musical pieces that have made her famous:
Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra (Frank’s most recent piece, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
Not only is Frank an accomplished composer, but she is also highly skilled as a unique, artistic pianist. When she is not composing, Frank is highly sought after as a performer who specializes in contemporary repertoire. Frank is regularly commissioned by luminaries such as:
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Soprano Dawn Upshaw
The King’s Singers
The Kronos Quartet
Brooklyn Rider
Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séquin
Gabriela Lena Frank is currently the composer-in-residence for the Philadelphia Orchestra, working on a 45-minute piece titled Chronicles of the Picaflor (Hummingbird). Previously, Frank completed a four-year tenure as a composer-in-residence with the Detroit Symphony under Maestro Leonard Slatkin where she composed her Walkabout: Concerto for Orchestra. Additionally, she carried out a second residency with the Houston Symphony under Andrés Orozco-Estrada where she contributed a large-scale choral and orchestral work in Spanish, Latin, and Nahuatl, which is the language of the Aztecs.
Her list of orchestral commissions and performances include:
Chicago Symphony
Boston Symphony
Atlanta Symphony
Cleveland Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
San Francisco Symphony
Gabriela Lena Frank’s Personal Life and Career Recognitions
Gabriela Lena Frank earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1994 from Rice University before going on to receive her Masters of Art in 1996. During her school years, she studied composition with Sam Jones and piano with Jeanna Kierman Fischer. In 2001, Frank received a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Michigan. During this course of studies, Frank would work under William Albright, William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, and Michael Dougherty. She also studied piano with Logan Skelton.
Her educational background, combined with her compositional accomplishments, has made Frank the subject of several scholarly books. These include:
W.W. Norton Anthology: The Music of Latin America
Women of Influence in Contemporary Music
Nine America Composers
In Her Own Words
Frank has also been the subject of several PBS documentaries, including Compadre Huashayo and Música Mestiza.
Among Gabriela Lena Frank’s most notable awards are:
Latin Grammy as both a composer and pianist
Guggenheim Fellowship
USA Artist Fellowship
2013 Medal of Excellence from Sphinx Organization for Outstanding Young Black and Latino Leaders in Classical Music-Frank received this award in a ceremony at the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. where she met Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Ginsburg
For the 2018-2019 school year, Frank served as the visiting artist-in-residence at the Blair School of Music with Vanderbilt University. Her first opera will premiere in the 2021-2022 season with the San Diego Opera. Titled The Last Dream of Frida, Frank’s opera uses words by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Nilo Cruz, who Frank often collaborates with.
Currently, Frank remains a Californian, living on a mountain farm in Boonville with her husband. She is a member of G. Schirmer’s prestigious roster of artists. Frank was also named the Washington Post’s 1st of 35 most significant women composers in history in August of 2017.
Frank’s Civic Outreach Efforts
Aside from her amazing contributions to the world of contemporary classical music and her worldwide recognition for her unique Latin America-inspired pieces, Frank is widely known for her civic outreach efforts. This truly is an essential part of her work. She’s volunteered extensively in hospitals and prisons throughout the years. But her current focus is the development of a music school program at Anderson Valley High School, a rural public high school in Boonville, California. Its modest means and large Latino population are what drew Frank to this location.
In 2017, Gabriela Lena Frank founded her own school called the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. It’s through this work that she helps emerging composers kick start their careers as they get to work with renowned performers.
Gabriela Lena Frank’s compositional contributions are energizing and captivating. As she elicits sounds of Latin American instruments such as the Peruvian pan flute and the charango, it is truly a pleasurable experience to hear her music live. The Washington Post called her music “work crafted with unselfconscious mystery.” Additionally, the NY Times called her “brilliantly effective” and Chicago Tribune “a knockout,” when describing her work. As she continues to expand her musical reach, there’s no telling where Frank may go, but one thing is for sure. Gabriela Lena Frank will continue to leave her musical mark on this world with each new venture she encounters.
Want a better way to track your students’ music practice throughout the week? Try the Practice Space Teacher app today!