Gabriel Francis-Dehqani

Gabriel has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the UK, Europe, North America and Asia at venues such as Wigmore Hall, The Arnold Schönberg Center, St John Smith’s Square, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, The Barbican Hall, Conway Hall, The National Gallery, The Princess Alexandra Hall, The Holywell Music Room, St Martin-in-the Fields, Milton Court Concert Hall, Café OTO, Jinan Concert Hall and Bechstein Halls in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Changsha. Gabriel has won First Prize at both the Muriel Taylor Cello Competition and the Irish Heritage UK competition, held at Wigmore Hall. He also won first prize at the 4th Edition of the International Contemporary Music Interpretation Competition and was subsequently invited to perform a solo cello recital at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana. He has been broadcast numerous times on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 as a soloist and chamber musician and has been invited to attend festivals across the UK and Europe such as the International Summer Academy of the MDW in Vienna, Santander Encounter of Music and Academy, the Aldeburgh Festival, Brussels Cello Festival, Schiermonnikoog and IMS Prussia Cove. Gabriel joined the award winning Elmore Quartet in 2025.

 

Recent performances include Schumann’s Cello Concerto at Cambridge University, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Rutland Sinfonia and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Essex Symphony Orchestra. Gabriel has a particular interest in contemporary music. He commissioned a Cello Sonata - ‘Murmurations’ - from his dear friend and colleague Will Harmer which was premiered at St-Martin-in-the-Fields in 2024. Gabriel also performed Boulez’s Messagesquisse for 8 cellos, alongside David Cohen, as part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s Boulez 100: Chamber Concert in London and is a 2024-25 Britten Pears Young Artist.

 

Gabriel is a founding member of the Komuna Collective, a collective of contemporary musicians whose work has been supported by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, Arts Council England, The Oxford Research Centre for Humanities and PRS Foundation. Their debut album ‘Views from the Real World’ was released in December 2024 followed by a series of launch events in London, Oxford, Norwich and Manchester. They recently made their European debut performing at the Classical:NEXT 2025 festival - a global gathering for all art music professionals that took place in Berlin.

 

Gabriel studied with Sue Lowe as an undergraduate at Durham University, reading music. Prior to this, Gabriel studied privately with Guy Johnston at the Royal Academy of Music. Gabriel completed his Masters degree and Artist Diploma with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama supported by awards from The Countness of Munster Musical Trust, Help Musicians UK, The Stephen Bell Scheme and the Essex Foundation.