Gabriela Castro

Gaby Castro is an experimental, genre-bending, instrumental focused clarinet & bass clarinet performing artist, producer, arranger, and educator. Her originally composed works combine her classical music training on clarinet and piano and a deep love for electronic, hiphop, and instrumental music. She is a co-founder of the pop/electronic clarinet ensemble, Four Play Clarinet, who amassed popularity with their music video covers of songs by Major Lazer and Eurythmics, gaining a following of over 32K YouTube subscribers and over 4 million channel views.

Originally from Santa Clarita, CA, Gabriela Castro completed a Master of Music degree at the School of Music at Cal State University, Fullerton, where she studied with Burt Hara of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also completed a Bachelor of Music degree at CSUF in the spring of 2013, her primary teachers being Hakan Rosengren and Margaret Worsley. In addition to these teachers, she was chosen to play in several master classes for elite performers and pedagogues such as Yehuda Gilad, Anthony McGill, Alexander Fiterstein, Mark Nuccio, and Nathan Williams. She has traveled abroad to perform in several countries with Cal State Fullerton ensembles, including as principal & co-principal clarinet of their Symphony Orchestra, in countries such as Portugal, China, France, and South Korea.

Gabriela made her debut as a solo performing artist with the April 2022 release of her debut single, “lumine”, a work that features clarinet, electronic music, and hip-hop style drum beats. Within the first week of its release, it was featured on KEXP radio’s Pacific Notions program, . She is currently slated to release and co-produce an EP entitled, “aesthetical”, a collection of music that features clarinet & bass clarinet instrumentals, electronic music, and lo-fi hip-hop type beats, and will be releasing it later in 2023. In addition to her solo music and YouTube work, Gabriela also performs as a freelance clarinetist with various ensembles and orchestras in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

Currently, Gabriela plays on a set of Buffet R13 clarinets, a Vandoren M13 Lyre 13 Series mouthpiece, and Vandoren Traditional reeds. She also has a bass clarinet setup, currently playing a Buffet Crampon Prestige Bass Clarinet with a Vandoren BD5 mouthpiece and Vandoren V12 reeds.