Gaëlle Solal

Daughter of music-loving parents, Gaëlle Solal discovered the classical guitar at the age of five and enrolled the following year at the Conservatory of Marseille. At only sixteen, she entered the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique. After three years, she graduated from the CNSM with the First Prize in guitar unanimously awarded, as well as the Diplôme de Formation Supérieure with highest honors. In 1998, she became the first French woman to win one of the most prestigious classical guitar competitions, the Alessandria Competition. An honorary laureate of numerous foundations, she has won twelve prizes in national and international competitions.

In the early 2000s, Gaëlle Solal moved to Andalusia, where she obtained a position as a professor at the Higher Conservatories of Córdoba and later Seville. During these seven years of teaching, she never stopped learning and attended masterclasses around the world. In 2006, after ten years with the Astor Duo, Gaëlle resumed her solo career, soon winning second prize at the Guitar Foundation of America competition and performing in prestigious halls and festivals in more than forty-five countries.

In 2009, an unexpected trip to Brazil marked a new turning point in her career. Upon her return, Gaëlle gave up teaching to devote herself fully to her deep love of the stage. More attached to freedom than to dogma, she initiates eclectic projects in solo performance, chamber music, and multidisciplinary collaborations. Deeply committed and supportive, she advocates for the visibility of women in the guitar world through the association Guitar’Elles, which she founded.

She has been living in Brussels since 2011. In 2020, her album Tuhu (Eudora Records) was unanimously acclaimed by both critics and audiences. She has recently signed with Fuga Libera / Outhere. Her new orchestral album, RIO, will be released in spring 2026.

Gaëlle plays a Rondine guitar by Walter Verreydt and Martina Gozzini. She is an artist with Savarez, AER, and Guitarlift, and receives support from Wallonie-Bruxelles International for her tours.

March 2026