Violinist Gabriela Lara achieves her ‘dream job’: becoming a CSO member

Growing up in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, violinist Gabriela Lara used to watch YouTube videos of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, never imagining that someday she would become a member of the ensemble. But after moving to the United States to advance her studies and spending two seasons as a CSO Fellow, she worked toward that major career goal. 

Now, Lara is realizing that dream. On Dec. 4, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association announced her appointment to the CSO’s first-violin section, effective Jan. 27, 2025. After participating in preliminary auditions for a violin-section opening, she won the final audition in October, becoming the first CSO musician appointed by Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä.

She also is the first CSO Fellow to become a member of the Orchestra.

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 José Francisco del Castillo and Francisco Díaz. An alumna of Venezuela’s El Sistema music-education program, she performed with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra as part of a 2016 European tour that included a concert at the Berliner Philharmonie. She also performed with Sir Simon Rattle at the 2013 Salzburg Festival.

In 2017, Lara moved to Chicago to study with Almita Vamos at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, graduating with a bachelor of music in violin performance in 2022 and a master’s degree in Suzuki Pedagogy in 2024. She was the second-place winner in the 2021 Sphinx Solo Competition, the winner of the 2021 Frank Preuss International Violin Competition and the recipient of a 2022 Project Inclusion Fellowship from the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. A member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in the 2022/23 Season, she served as the ensemble’s rotating concertmaster from October 2022 to December 2023.

Lara became the first CSO Fellow in the 2022/23 Season and continued as the Michael and Kathleen Elliott Fellow in the 2023/24 Season. The CSO Fellowship program provides up to three players with the opportunity to rehearse and perform in a major symphony orchestra setting, work with top conductors, and receive training and mentorship from CSO musicians. The program aims to help early-career musicians become better equipped to win auditions with top U.S. orchestras, including the CSO.

As part of her fellowship, Lara performed in more than 20 weeks of concerts per season with the CSO and participated in North American and European tours led by Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti. “The fellowship gave me an opportunity that otherwise I wouldn’t have had,” she 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.”

The next career step came when she was appointed to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra during her second season as a CSO Fellow. After completing the 2023/24 Season with the CSO, she joined the MSO in September 2024 and is currently a member of the second-violin section. This move reunited her with Ken-David Masur, principal conductor of the Civic Orchestra and music director of the MSO.

“I’ve enjoyed it a lot,” she said of her brief time in Milwaukee. “The orchestra is great. The people in the orchestra are amazing, and seeing Ken-David Masur again was a welcoming feeling.”

Leading up to her CSO audition, Lara practiced not only the physical and technical elements of the music but also focused on the mental aspects of performing. “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 said. “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.’ ”

This mental clarity served her well during the final audition, when Mäkelä requested to work individually with her. During their time together, Lara played each excerpt again, and Mäkelä gave “very specific” notes reminiscent of a master class or rehearsal. Although she had never experienced an audition like this, Lara feels that the one-on-one attention helped her to demonstrate her range “as a whole musician,” instead of only delivering “an end product.”

After performing Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with Mäkelä when she was a CSO Fellow, Lara looks forward to working with him as a CSO member. “I love his energy,” she said, also noting the strong work ethic that he brings to rehearsals. Mahler is her favorite composer, so she is especially eager to perform two of his symphonies for the first time: No. 3 with Mäkelä (April 24-26) and No. 7 with Jaap van Zweden (April 17-19).

For now, Lara is simply trying to get used to the “mind-blowing” idea that she starts her dream job in January. “It still hasn’t set in, but I’m very excited,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to making music at the highest standard.”