Gabriel Fridkis ’16

Gabriel won the position of Assistant Principal Flute in the Fort Worth Symphony in the fall of 2018, a position he currently holds.

At 26 years old, flutist Gabriel Fridkis is quickly establishing himself as a distinguished orchestral musician and sought-after soloist.

In addition to his orchestral and solo work, he also performs with his brother and duo partner, Jake Fridkis.

Early Years

Fridkis began his musical studies at seven years of age at the Westminster Conservatory of Music in Princeton, NJ. At 11, Gabriel debuted with his brother, Jake Fridkis, at the National Flute Convention in San Diego, premiering a duet by world-renowned flutist and composer Gary Schocker.

At 12, he toured Europe as the soloist with a chamber orchestra, performing in Prague, Florence, and across Eastern Europe, as well as beginning studies in the private studio of Schocker as his youngest full-time student. As an orchestral musician, Fridkis played in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra throughout high school and attended the Kinhaven Music Festival.

He then took a three-year hiatus from music to study law and business at American University in Washington D.C.

At Purchase

Fridkin resumed his musical studies at Purchase with Tara Helen O’Connor.

He won the Purchase Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in his first semester, performing the Ibert Concerto under the baton of conductor and legendary flute soloist, Ransom Wilson, and graduated summa cum laude in three years.

While enrolled, Fridkin attended many music festivals including a summer in the National Repertory Orchestra, two summers with the Aspen Music Festival, one at the Brevard Music Center where he was the winner of the Jean and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition, as well as taking part in the Breckenridge, Eastern, and Banff music festivals.

He received his Master of Music degree from DePaul University in the spring of 2018, while simultaneously completing his first season with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and second season with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. During these two years, he also performed with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony, and the San Antonio Symphony.

—Excerpted from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra