Canadian/American percussionist Gabriel Globus-Hoenich has been a professional percussionist, composer and educator for more than a decade.  Born into a musical family in Montreal, Gabriel began to study percussion in Boston with local educator Gary Spelissey.  As a young percussionist, Gabriel’s interests spanned everything from learning Beatles songs on drum kit to playing jazz standards on vibraphone.  Throughout high school, Gabriel performed with jazz ensembles at New England Conservatory pre-college, orchestras with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony and Longy School, and vibraphone with Massachusetts All-State Jazz Band, while maintaining an active roll in the teenage rock n’roll scene around Boston as well as playing his first professional engagements accompanying local musical theater shows in the suburbs of Boston.  While in high school, Gabriel had the opportunity to perform in Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Spain.

 

In his final year of high school, Gabriel decided to focus on classical percussion and marimba, studying with Craig McNutt, Dan Bauche, and Gary Feldman for a year while finishing high school at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, in Natick Massachusetts.  During this year, Gabriel was accepted to the elite Curtis Institute of Music where he began his studies in 2004 with Philadelphia Orchestra timpanist Don Liuzzi.  While at Curtis, Gabriel also studied with Scott Robinson, Rolando Morales, and Robert Van Sice.  During his time at Curtis, Gabriel was awarded the Avedis Zildjian Percussion Scholarship and had the opportunity to perform with world class soloists, conductors, and fellow students, at acclaimed venues such as Verizon Hall and Carnegie Hall.   Gabriel co-founded A.I.R Percussion while still a student and won the college division of the Percussive Arts Society collegiate percussion ensemble competition resulting in a feature concert at P.A.S.I.C in 2008.

 

Since graduating in 2008, Gabriel began full studies and immersion into Philadelphia’s rich jazz scene.  Studying with Byron Landham, Rodney Green, Kenny Washington, Gabriel began to be a regular amongst the Philly jazz community, performing with Tim Warfield, Tia Fuller, Orrin Evans, Tony Miceli, John Swana, Larry McKenna, Pat Bianchi, amongst others.  

 

Gabriel made the leap from Philadelphia to New York City in 2012.  After a tour through Peru with the Archipelago Ensemble, Gabriel fell deeply in love with Latin music and percussion.  Gabriel has studied Afro-Brazilian percussion with master percussionists Gabriel Guedes and Mario Pam in Salvador Bahia, as well as popular and folkloric Cuban music with Adonis Panter Calderon, Rociel Riveron, and Giraldo Piloto during a two month residency in Cuba.  Gabriel has performed latin music with Tiempo Libre, Calixto Oviedo, Tirso Duarte, John Benitez, Luisito Quintero, Axel Laugart, Miguel de Armas, Hilario Duran, Oriente Lopez, and others.

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In 2013 Gabriel was in residence at the Banff Arts Center in Alberta, Canada, participating in the Jazz and Creative Music Workshop.  There he studied with Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Dafnis Prieto, and others exploring the far reaches of musical possibilities.  There he met pianist Gabriel Zucker and has subsequently toured and recorded extensively as a part of both The Delegation and No Reference For Taste, including multiple tours in Canada and Europe between 2015-2017.

 

Gabriel has enjoyed a diverse career as the percussionist of choice for classical musicians looking to bridge stylistic divides.    He has enjoyed a long time collaboration with conductor Teddy Abrams and has worked alongside Teddy at GardenMusic Festival in Miami, the Detroit Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, and the MAV Orchestra in Hungary as well as with the Sixth Floor Trio.  Gabriel has performed chamber and contemporary music with Dolce Suono Ensemble, a Philadelphia based group fronted by flute virtuoso Mimi-Stillman and plays drum-set with Guyanese superstar singer Purnash.  As a new music percussionist, Gabriel has performed with John Hollenbeck, Lionel Loueke and Rogerio Boccato, NakedEye Ensemble, Gene Coleman, Tessa Lark, Michael Thurber, Harrison Hollingsworth, Bridget Kibbey, Jeremy Kittle, Susie Ibarra, Theo Bleckmenn, and J.A.C.K. Quartet.   As a jazz drummer, he has accompanied Morgan James, The Philadelphia Pops, The Detroit Pops, Nu Directions Chamber Brass, among others.

 

In 2016, Gabriel performed as a drum-set soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, playing wiz-kid Steve Hackman’s Firebird Remix. He has also performed with The Illinois Symphony and Maryland Symphony, accompanying Time for Three’s Nick Kendall.  In 2017 Gabriel performed with the Eco Music Big Band in Zankel Hall in a modern jazz version of Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire de Soldat, featuring Orange Is the New Black’s John Palladino. 

 

Since 2015 Gabriel has been in residence at the Britt Festival and Olympic Music Festival,where he directs and stars in children’s concerts as well as performs with the festival orchestra and plays chamber music.  

In 2017 Gabriel founded People of Earth, a 15 person Latin fusion group filled with some of NYC's best musicians representing a myriad of countries.  People of Earth has performed at Disney Hall, New World Center for the Arts, Mann Center, and Kennedy Center, among others.  For more information visit www.peopleofearthmusic.com

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As a composer and arranger, Gabriel has been commissioned by Dolce Suono Ensemble, the Louisville Orchestra, First Editions Chamber Orchestra, The Britt Festival, GardenMusic Festival and the Canadian Brass.  Gabriel has written orchestral arrangements for Grammy-award winners Sam Bush, Cory Henry, and Sara Jarosz, as well as Achilles Liarmakopolous of the Canadian Brass, Grammy nominated Tiempo Libre, and the Louisville Orchestra.  In 2023 Gabriel received a BRIO for composition from The Bronx Council for the Arts.

 

For more information about Gabriel’s work as an educator, see the educator page.