Guest ArtistsGabriela Jiménez, percussion

Gabriela Jiménez began her education at the Mexican National Music Conservatory and the Escuela de Perfeccionamiento Vida y Movimiento. In 1985 she was awarded Young Musician first prize by the Mexico State Symphony Orchestra. From 1986 to 1989 Ms. Jimenez was timpanist with the Orquesta Filarmónica del Bajio and taught at the University of Guanajuato; she also directed the Orquesta Filarmonica del Bajio Percussion Quartet.

In 1989 she was given a Fulbright-Benito Juarez scholarship to study at Manhattan School of Music with Chris Lamb and Duncan Patton. While at Manhattan she won the solo competition (the first time that a percussionist had ever done so) and also the George Shick prize for musical excellence in the class of 1991.

Ms. Jiménez was awarded a scholarship to the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and performed as timpanist and percussion under Bernstein, Ozawa, Previn, Foss, Knussen and Schuller. She has also played in the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Percussion & Contemporary Ensemble, the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra and the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. In 2004 as a member of the World Peace Orchestra she toured Moscow and Saint Petersburg with Valeri Gergiev. Ms. Jimenez holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Hartford University and the Universidad Anahuac del Sur (Mexico City).

Since 1981 Ms. Jiménez has been timpanist with the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria and the Mexican Soloist Chamber Orchestra. At the National School of Music and the Escuela de Perfeccionamiento Vida y Movimiento she teaches a wide variety of subjects ranging from timpani and percussion to music philosophy, acoustics, organology and percussion laboratory. Founder of Percusionarte she has ventured into jazz with AtrilV, recording works of Kupferman. A winner of FONCA project grants in 1994 and 1996, Ms. Jimenez was distinguished in 1998 with the Mozart Medal, a prize given by the Austrian government and the Domecq Cultural Institute.

Ms. Jiménez has performed under the baton of Jorge Mester, Placido Domingo, Scott Yoo, Grzegorz Nowak, Zaeth Ritter, Jose Miramontes, Paul McCreesh, Antoni Ros-Marba, Carlos Spierer, David Gilbert, Kurt Masur, Sergio Cardenas, Valery Gergiev, Oliver Knussen, José Areán, Fernando Lozano, Eduardo Diazmuñóz, Jesús Medina and Carlos Miguel Prieto, just to mention a few, and also had the chance to perform with legendary conductors: Leonard Bernstein, Eduardo Mata, Lukas Foss, Luis Herrera de la Fuente, Jorge Velazco and Zaeth Ritter.

As a soloist Ms. Jiménez has performed with the Manhattan Philharmonia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (Mexico), Orquesta Sinfónica Carlos Chavez, Orquesta de Cámara Morelos, Orquesta Filarmonica de la UNAM, Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de Mëxico, Orquesta Sinfónica del Bajío, Orquesta Sinfónica de San Luis Potosi and Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de Las Artes.

Among Mexican and world premieres are: Concierto Voltaje para Timbales y Orquesta (dedicated to Gabriela Jiménez), Concierto Zocalo Tropical and Concierto Candela (all three works by Gabriela Ortiz) and David Noon's Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra. Her repertoire also includes Afterlight for Mixed Soloists and Orchestra by Carlos Sanchez, Sonata de los Solares by Valentín Ruiz Lopez, Creation by Tomas de Marco, Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra by Salil Shavded and Moonsticks, dedicated to Gabriela Jiménez by composer Mayer Kupferman. She has also performed Armand Russell's Concerto for Percussion and Chamber Orchestra; marimba concertos by Robert Kurka, Paul Creston, Jorge Sarmientos and Ney Rosauro; timpani concertos by William Kraft, Ricardo Risco, Ney Rosauro and Sigfried Matthus; xylophone concertos by Toshiro Mayuzumi and Alan Hovaness; and Philip Glass' Concerto for Two Timpani and Orchestra. Upcoming solo performances include Concierto Lando for Percussion and Orchestra by Douglas Tarnawiecki, The Big Top by Federico García Castells and a work entitled Tres Cuadros para Percusion y Orquesta by Jorge Ritter, dedicated to Gabriela Jiménez.