Gabriela Lara graduated in 2022 with a bachelor of music degree in violin performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she was a student of Almita Vamos. Lara is also the recipient of a 2022 Project Inclusion Fellowship from the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.
Originally from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Lara began her violin studies at age 8 and later became a member of the Latin American Violin Academy, where she was a student of Jose Francisco del Castillo and Francisco Diaz. She was also a member of El Sistema in Venezuela, where she served as a concertmaster of the Lara Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in 2017 and performed with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra as part of a 2016 European tour.
Lara was also the second-place winner in the 2021 Sphinx Solo Competition and the winner of the 2021 Frank Preuss International Violin Competition. She was a CSO Fellow for the 2021/22 Season and the Michael and Kathleen Elliott Fellow for the 2022/23 Season.
