Los Angeles Philharmonic Association Announces Violinist Selected For LA Phil Resident Fellows Program

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association announces that violinist Gabriela Pe a-Kim has been selected for the LA Phil Resident Fellows program. The program was launched during the 2018/19 season as a centerpiece initiative of the LA Phil's Centennial, with the purpose of creating a pathway towards a more diverse and inclusive orchestra of tomorrow. The fellowship is an excellence-based training program for superb early-career symphonic musicians representing or serving historically underrepresented populations. Its goal is to prepare these musicians to compete for, and win, positions in major professional orchestras.

In May 2018, the LA Phil announced its first cohort of four Resident Fellows: Andrew Fran ois (viola), Michael Fuller (bass), Eduardo Rios (violin), and Wesley Sumpter (percussion). The cohort began their fellowships in September 2018. The LA Phil is thrilled to announce that Fran ois has won a position with the St. Louis Symphony and will be moving on from the LA Phil Resident Fellows program.

A cohort of up to five Resident Fellows are appointed as musicians playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for up to three years. The Resident Fellows focus on their artistic development through orchestral, chamber music, new music, and education concerts performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and in community settings. They also have the opportunity to participate in tours with the LA Phil. Mentorship from LA Phil musicians and assistance with audition preparation are added benefits to prepare Resident Fellows for future roles in major professional orchestras, including the LA Phil.

The LA Phil Resident Fellows program is open to outstanding string players (violin, viola, cello, bass) or percussionists, including those with demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion in the arts, learning, and civic leadership, who have earned a bachelor's degree and are from or serve underrepresented populations. The Resident Fellows are selected through a screening and audition process led by musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and LA Phil Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. Applications for a Resident Fellow Viola position are currently open, and auditions will take place in July 2019.

As the LA Phil imagines the possibilities for its next 100 years, the LA Phil Resident Fellowship will help the organization build on its historic achievements to create a model of a 21st-century cultural institution that both serves and reflects its community.

The LA Phil Resident Fellows program is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Eugene and Marilyn Stein Family Foundation.
More information about LA Phil Resident Fellows can be found at laphil.com.

Gabriela Pe a-Kim comes from a musical and diverse family, her father a native of Honduras and her mother from South Korea. She graduated from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she studied with Alexander Kerr, concertmaster of Dallas Symphony. Her main focus has been orchestral playing, attending numerous music festivals, including the Music Academy of the West, Pacific Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival. She sat alongside Stephen Rose as Principal Second Violin at PMF and was a finalist for the concerto competition at the Music Academy. Gabriela has had the privilege to work under such notable conductors as Alan Gilbert, Larry Rachleff, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, and Robert Spano. For the past two years, she has been playing with the Jacksonville Symphony under music director Courtney Lewis. She has also been a frequent guest artist with the Lawson Ensemble, resident trio at the University of Florida in Jacksonville. Along with being a part of the St. Augustine Music Festival for the past eight years, performing with the Diaz Trio, as well as leading the chamber orchestra, she is also involved in managing the festival with her parents, the founders.