Young, Gabriel

Associate Principal Oboe

Gabriel Young joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as 2nd Oboe in 2019, at the age of 23. A native of Ashland, Oregon, Young has been performing classical, jazz, klezmer and contemporary music for nearly all of his life. From busking at the local farmer's market with his family trio to appearing in concert in world-class venues across the United States, Japan, Russia and England, he has continued to develop his musical prowess, delighting audiences and critics alike: "Young is not only a master of his instrument but an artist of taste and discernment. The sound of his oboe is, for lack of a better word, angelic" read a 2015 review in the Washington Post. Referring to Young's performance of the Marcello Concerto at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the article continued, "There were moments, particularly in the Adagio, when the music seemed to transcend even that exquisite oboe sound, emerging instead as pure, disembodied human expression. Young created a breathtaking spell ..."

Young attended Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music for his undergraduate degree, where he studied with Linda Strommen and held the John H. Reese Scholarship within the Wells Scholars Program. He completed his Master's degree under the tutelage of Elaine Douvas at The Juilliard School, as a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. As a student, Young spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival & School, Music Academy of the West and the Pacific Music Festival, among others. Young joined the U.C. Santa Cruz Music Department as Lecturer in 2022 and has served as a Teaching Artist for Youth Orchestra Salinas, an El Sistema USA program, since 2020.

An active soloist, Young has been featured in concerto performances with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, the Rogue Valley Symphony, the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra, Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, the Second Street Baroque Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute Orchestra and the Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon. The summer of 2016 saw Young win second prize at the International Double Reed Society's Young Artist Competition and he has received recognition at a number of other solo and concerto competitions over the years.

Orchestrally, Young has appeared with the Palm Beach Symphony, Florida Grand Opera, Louisville Orchestra, the Kentucky Opera, the Britt Festival Orchestra and the NuDeco Ensemble, among others. He has performed and been interviewed on National Public Radio, Sirius/XM Satellite Radio and BBC Radio and Television. Recent recording projects include features on the album Canto América (Wayne Wallace, Michael Spiro, La Orquesta Sinfonietta), a 2017 Grammy nominee for Best Latin Jazz Album and on the soundtrack for the film Glass Garden which was selected to open the 2017 Busan International Film Festival.