Gala Flagello

From Wind Repertory Project
Gala Flagello

Biography

Gala Flagello (pronounced GAL-uh Flah-JEL-oh) (b. 1 April 1994, Westwood, N.J.) is an American composer, educator, student and nonprofit director.

Dr. Flagello holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition degree from The Hartt School, a Master of Music in Composition degree from the University of Michigan, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition degree at the University of Michigan, where she was awarded the Dorothy Greenwald Graduate Fellowship. Her major composition teachers include Michael Daugherty, Kristin Kuster, Erik Santos, Evan Chambers, and Robert Carl.

Flagello's compositional work is inspired by a passion for lyricism, rhythmic vitality and fostering meaningful collaboration. She strives to use music as a vehicle for social change, frequently engaging with topics such as environmental advocacy, gender equity, and mental health in her work. She collaborates with leading ensembles, artists, initiatives, and institutions to craft impactful projects. Some of these include Educational New Music for Developing Voices (2017), The Contemporary Solo Horn (2018), and the web-premiere event for her wind quintet Matriarch (2020). She is the festival director and co-founder of the nonprofit contemporary music festival Connecticut Summerfest, and has been a composition fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and Aspen Music Festival.

She was recently commissioned by the Albany Symphony, Hub New Music, the Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, Mass.), and the Keene State College Concert Band.

Dr. Flagello is an educator in the classroom, privately, and as a guest lecturer. She is enthusiastic to help students grow a seed of an idea into a full-length piece, examine repertoire, and incorporate non-musical elements such as visual art and technology into their work. Gala maintains a private studio of composition students at the high school and collegiate level, and serves as the graduate student instructor for the course Creative Composition for Non-Majors at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. She has been engaged as a guest lecturer on composition, orchestration, arts administration, and entrepreneurship at institutions such as Central Connecticut State University, Marblehead High School and Middle School, the Young Composers Project, and Nonnewaug High School.

Recent accolades include first prize in the Musicians Club of Women Composition Competition, the Sinta Quartet Composition Competition, and the Michigan Music Teachers Association Commissioned Composer Prize.


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