Gaëlle Solal

“A great emotional blow you’re bound to never forget” La Marseillaise

"The worldwide promise of the guitar." Diario Vasco

"An extraordinary musical sensitivity " Gazzetta di Parma

"The new guitar star in France." Chitarre

Daughter of music aficionados, Gaëlle Solal discovered the classical guitar at the age of five, during a small concert in a backyard that took on the appearance of a revelation. She entered the Marseille Conservatory the following year where René Bartoli taught her the guitar according to the rules of art, play... and challenge! Against the advice of her high-school teachers who predicted a brilliant future for her in business or mathematics, she entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of 16. Some dreams never fade and young Gaëlle’s notebook on which is written: "When I grow up, I want to be a dancer and musician" can testify to this.

From the Conservatory, Gaëlle has vivid memories of a masterclass by Léo Brouwer, the famous Cuban composer who selected her for the best Students Recital. After three years, she completed the CNSM with the 1st Prize for guitar unanimously, the DFS with the honors and a great willingness to learn. Playful, ambitious and eager not to miss any challenge, she took part in international competitions in parallel with her Master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. In 1998, she became the first French woman to win one of the most renowned classical guitar competitions, the Alessandria international Guitar Competition (unique fact: the second prize was not awarded that year). This grand prize marked the beginning of her international career. Finalist of the Concert Artist Guild of New York in 2004, the Forum Guitar in Wien, the Benicasim International Competition and the René Bartoli International Competition, Gaëlle has won in total twelve prizes in international and national competitions. We can disntinguish the first Prize at International guitar competition «M. Pittaluga» in Alessandria, Italy (1998), first prize at International competition Sernancehle in Portugal (2000), first Prize at International guitar competition Savona, Italy (1998), first Prize at International guitar competition, Locquémeau. France (1995), First Prize at International Competition René Bartoli. France (1993), second Prize at Guitar Foundation of America, USA (2006), second Prize at International chamber music competition Pozoblanco, Spain (2001), second Prize as well as audience prize at International guitar duo competition Montélimar, France (2000), second prize at International chamber music competition with guitar in Bari, Italy (2001).

She is also an honorary laureate of the Beracasa Foundation, Meyer Foundation, Emma Contestabile Foundation, Fundación La Caixa, BNP Paribas Foundation, Accademia Chigiana (2001, 2005 and 2006) and Mécénat Société Générale (1998).

In the early 2000s, Gaëlle Solal moved to Andalusia where she took up a position as Associate Professor at the Superior Conservatories of Cordoba and Seville. During these seven years of teaching, she never stopped learning and attended masterclasses around the world, including those of Roland Dyens, Oscar Ghiglia, Antigoni Goni, Alvaro Pierri and Joaquin Clerch. In 2002, CulturesFrance selected her for the Déclic Series. Tours in India, Africa, Southeast Asia, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Germany followed.

In 2006, after a ten year collaboration with the Astor duo, Gaëlle Solal resumed her solo career, winning the second prize of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America and performing in over forty countries including Germany, Myanmar, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Israel, Spain, France, Gabon, India, Iceland, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, USA, and Japan. She has performed in prestigious halls at the Purcell Room in London, the Cortot Hall, the Mogador Theater, the Corum Hall in Montpellier, the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, the Oji Hall in Tokyo, the Concert Hall in Kyoto, the Teatro Maestranza in Seville, the Teatro Comunale in Alexandria, the Merkin Hall in New York, the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., the Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg.

She has performed in prominent festivals including Festival d’Ile de France, Noches en los Reales Alcázares in Sevilla, Festival d’Avignon, Flâneries musicales in Reims, Festival de Torroella in Montgrí, Festival Montpellier-Radio France and at the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Convention in 2011. She has been invited back numerous times and recently at 2017 GFA, she presented her production of the creative and unique musical comedy, Crazy Nails!, in collaboration with Boris Gaquere that left audiences in complete awe of their talents and received a rave review from Classical Guitar Magazine.

She has been a soloist in concertos with the Berkeley Symphony (USA), the Garde Républicaine Orchestra (France), the Philharmonic of Turin Orchestra (Italy) and the WSO- Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Canada). With the WSO, she gave two sold out night performing Concierto de Aranjuez under the direction of Yarom Traub.

Gaëlle is fond of chamber music and collaborations: with the guitar duo Astor, with choreographer and breakdancer Julien Carlier, in chamber music with singer Noëmi Waysfeld, clarinetists Florent Héau and Antonio Salguero, bandoneonist Jérémy Vannereau, the Nicolas de Grigny Choir, Ensemble Allegri, the Variatio Choir, Ensemble Zahir. Passionate about contemporary music, she gave the first performance of Maurice Ohana's concerto in Italy, the world premiere of Naomi Sekiya's concerto with Kent Nagano and the premiere of three new pieces at the International Guitar Festival in Córdoba. The composer Elodie Bouny has just dedicated the concerto Nodus for guitar and orchestra to her.

In 2009, an unexpected escapade in Brazil made her career take a new turn. It is the never-ending rodas that rekindle her curiosity and childlike excitement for music that is played only to the rhythm of pleasure, emotions and freedom. On her return, Gaëlle unpacks a host of scores and a new vital impetus from her suitcases. She gives up teaching to devote herself fully to her infinite love for the stage and to the skills she always wanted to learn: tap dancing, mime, clown, beatbox, contemporary dance, jazz and popular music, theatrical improvisation... From all these experiences, she created the show Crazy Nails in duet with Boris Gaquere, which fuses clownish play and music of all styles, as well as the program for the album "Tuhu" released in December 2020 at Eudora Records.

This recent album Tuhu has received unanimous critics from the press and several awards: Golden Opus (OpusHr webreview), 5 stars (HR Audio), 5 stars (spanish musical magazine Melómano), 4 stars (belgian newspapers La Libre), 4 stars Classica (french musical magazine), 4 stars (Pizzicato, luxembourg magazine), 3 stars Le Soir (Belgian newspaper), “Coup de coeur”/ highlight (Res Musica), Cd of the day (l'Alsace) and Cd Clic (Classicnews.com). Gaëlle has been interviewed for important radio and TV shows: TV5 Monde, France 2, la 1ère - RTBF, France Inter, France Musique, Radio Télévision Suisse.

More attached to freedom than dogma, Gaëlle Solal moves seamlessly from the solemn solo in a long dress to the clownish duo, from Bach to the Beatles, from contemporary to baroque. Committed and supportive, she fights for the presence and visibility of women in the guitar world, in concerts and festival programs via the association "Guitar'Elles" of which she is the founder. She has been living in Brussels since 2011 and has been appointed guest professor at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent.

Gaëlle Solal plays on a Rondine guitar of the Belgian luthiers Walter Verreydt and Martina Gozzini with the red Cantiga strings of Savarez. She is a touring artist sponsored by the prestigious string provider Savarez.

Recent and upcoming United States recitals include Central Valley Guitar Summit at Fresno University, Guitar Foundation of America online convention, Online Festival Khitara. USA/Mexico, Arizona Classical Guitar Society, Brownsville Classical guitar society. Gaëlle have and will also tour in France (Bal Blomet, Saison Toulouse Guitare, Fondation Royaumont, Paris, Angers, France. Abbaye du Ronceray d’Angers, Festival international de guitare de Vendôme, Palais des Archevêques de Narbonne, Espace Arthuss) and Belgium (Festival XS. Théâtre National, Bruxelles, Balades musicales de Rixensart, Festival Voix Plurielles, Chapelle de Bondael, Festivals de Wallonie, Espace Culturel Jacques Franck, Festival Voix de femmes.)

August 2023