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Fabien Gabel

conductor

Fabien Gabel is music director designate of the Tonkünstler-Orchester, a position which begins with the 2025-26 season. He has established an international career of the highest caliber, appearing with orchestras such as Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Seoul Philharmonic and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Praised for his dynamic style and sensitive approach to the score, he is best known for his eclectic choice of repertoire, ranging from core symphonic works to new music to championing lesser-known composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The 2024-25 season includes Gabel’s return to Chicago Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Melbourne Symphony and other ensembles. He debuts with the Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Korea, and leads concerts with Tonkünstler-Orchester in Vienna, St. Pölten and Grafenegg. 

In France, Gabel works regularly with all major Paris orchestras and had a highly acclaimed debut at the Opéra national de Paris in 2022-23. Gabel recently led the recording of a new score for Abel Gance’s 1927 epic film Napoléon with the Orchestre National de France and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. The first part of the film was presented at the 2024 Festival de Cannes and will be shown in theatres, on French television and on Netflix.

Fabien Gabel performs with soloists such as Daniil Trifonov, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Bertrand Chamayou, Seong-Jin Cho, Francesco Piemontesi, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Gidon Kremer, Augustin Hadelich, Vilde Frang, Daniel Lozakovich, Christian Tetzlaff, Gautier Capuçon, Daniel Mueller-Schott, Johannes Moser, Håkan Hardenberger and Emmanuel Pahud, and with singers such as Measha Brueggergosman, Natalie Dessay, Petra Lang, Jennifer Larmore, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Nikola Hillebrand, Asmik Grigorian and Michael Schade.

Having attracted international attention in 2004 as the winner of the Donatella Flick conducting competition, Fabien Gabel was assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2006. He was music director of Orchestre symphonique de Québec from 2012 to 2021 and Orchestre Français des Jeunes 2017 to 2021.

Born in Paris to a family of accomplished musicians, Fabien Gabel began playing the trumpet at the age of 6 and honed his skills at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He played with various Parisian orchestras under prominent conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle and Bernard Haitink before embarking on his conducting career. Fabien Gabel was named “Chevaliers des Arts et des Lettres” by the French government in January 2020.