3rd Prize
Gustavo Cabrera was born in Los Angeles, California, but holds Argentine and Dutch citizenship. He began playing the violin at age 5, beginning with classical training. His first recognition came when he won the Public Radio Young Performers Concerto Competition in Illinois, United States. This experience led him to obtain scholarships to continue his studies in Illinois and, later, to a special scholarship to pursue his bachelor's degree at Millikin University in 2007. During his time there, he focused his attention on jazz saxophone until moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In Buenos Aires, he began to study tango, which led to performances with artists such as Mario Abramovich, Eduardo Walczak, and Horacio Romo of the legendary "Sexteto Mayor," as well as Julio Pane, Juan Pablo Navarro, Pablo Agri, 'Jairo', León Gieco, Cecilia Todd, and Omar Mollo. At the same time, he continued playing in classical orchestras and in 2012 toured Europe with the Orquesta Típica Ciudad Baigón. Upon his return, he performed with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic at the Teatro Colón.
After working with the Argentine National Tango Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Atilio Stampone, and collaborating with Leopoldo Federico and Amelita Baltar, he decided to move to the Netherlands in 2014 to continue his studies in performance and composition. Once in the Netherlands, he was invited by Argentina's National Tango Selection to tour Lisbon, Brussels, London, and Istanbul under the direction of Cristian Zárate.
That same year, a composition by Cabrera for solo violin was discovered at a festival in L'Aquila, Italy, where he was invited to perform it in front of a curious and enthusiastic audience, which also resulted in a tango performance. After this, he decided to compose for solo piano for an international composition competition, reaching the final round in 2016, which inspired him to continue creating. In 2017, he toured Italy with Tango Tinto and continues to perform frequently throughout Europe.
He was also a member of the renowned DOT Quartet, a prominent and award-winning string quartet dedicated primarily to jazz, with which he participated in several festivals. He was invited as a featured soloist with the Franscati Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, where in addition to serving as concertmaster, he was invited to give a masterclass on tango technique, before touring the country with the award-winning Metropole Orchestra.
While performing, his studies were ultimately completed with a Bachelor of Violin degree awarded cum laude, later continuing with a Master of Composition under the guidance of Paul van Brugge and Gustavo Beytelmann, exploring techniques ranging from small ensembles, tango orchestras, symphonic works, as well as big band. His compositions can be found in the Walter H. Rubsamen Music Library at the University of California. He has recently performed with Martin Sued and the Orquestra Assintomática leading to a tour throughout Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina in November of 2024 and recording with artists such as Aaron Parks, Fuensanta Mendez, Yamandu Costa, Antonio Zambujo, Guinga, Fred Martins, Mario Laginha, Maria João and JP Simoes.