Gabriela Lena Frank Residency… With More to Come
Photo by Conservatory Flickr
Pacific’s Conservatory receives a welcome visit from the groundbreaking Latin American composer.
This past week, Gabreila Lena Frank spent a few days working with Pacific Conservatory’s developing vocalists and blossoming composers. Between the dates of December 3 and December 5, 2025, Frank offered a variety of masterclasses, Q&A sessions, workshops, and personal conversations.
As a composer and vocalist, I was able to schedule a one-on-one interview with Frank; during which we were able to reflect on her time spent with students, and chat about upcoming collaborations with her academy. Frank is a kind and gentle soul; she has spent years honing her craft and now has a multitude of works to her name.
A Week in Review
Voice Masterclass - December 4, 2025
Given Frank’s recent delve into the opera world with her recently premiered work El último sueño de Frida y Diego (“The last dream of Frida and Diego”), Frank was invited to workshop with a select group of student vocalists.
Katie Pelletier, ‘26 (Vocal Performance), wowed those attending the class with a breathtaking performance of “O Luce di Quest’anima” from the Opera Linda di Chamounix. Before Pelletier sang, the two had a conversation about “understanding the web of an opera,” and worked together to bring the piece to life. All feedback that Frank gave came from an imaginative place, but was productive, detailed, and warm.
With Ian Orejana, ‘26 (Music Composition), Frank turned her attention to Orejana’s arrangement of “La Paura Del Buio” by Måneskin and Damiano David, originally a rock band piece. After his fast-paced, impressive performance, the options she offered were to stick honestly to the notes of the original piece, get creative and orchestrate the effect, or create a new idea that fits. Using a variety of those arranging intentions will allow a writer to “beef up” an arrangement and serve the artistry of a song.
Landon Horstman, ‘27 (Music Education), performed a phenomenal rendition of “Two Happy Lovers” from Three Love Songs by Libby Larsen, which turned Frank’s focus to contemporary music, and together they analyzed the score to look for the composer’s intention.
Q&A Session - December 4, 2025
The session started with a 20-minute excerpt of her new opera before questions about her life experience were asked. In summation, Frank started her composing career in college, primarily focusing on chamber music and art songs. Many mentors and peers told her, “You have an opera in there.” A manifestation now true, Frank’s opera is a fantastic story that takes place in 1957, starting on the Day of the Dead. She did not get into the opera world until her 40s, but she loves it.
Her goal was never to find success; Frank works to bring people up with her. She mentioned in this portion of her visit, “I just want to work with great artists, who are down to earth, that I can put in front of my composers, or put in front of Pacific people that are willing to build bridges with us.”
She also spoke on how she reacts to bad reviews, emphasized the importance of having small projects that you are proud of, reiterated the importance of writing music that serves the text, and called attention to moments where composers have control of the final product. A quote of hers that stood out to me was: “You don’t know how the stone bounces in the pond, so take seriously the ripples that you’re starting to send out.”
Oboe Seed Idea Workshop - December 4, 2025
Student composers Edmund Bascon (‘27), Connor Hsu (‘27), Alayna Ontai (‘26), Kamron Qasimi (‘27), and Michael Shove (‘27) prepared in the coming weeks with “seed ideas” specifically written for oboe. Seed ideas are short snippets of music written with the intention to workshop later.
With a variety of ideas that are less than a page each, Frank took about 20 minutes with each student and oboe faculty, Kyle Bruckmann, to experiment with many possibilities stemming from the initial seed idea. Frank is a huge advocate for composer/performer collaboration, specifically in terms of play and bringing what is on the page into the real world. Speaking to performers, Frank said, “You will change this universe. You will build this world in your vision and to get off the page.”
What Happens Next?
In coming semesters, Pacific’s Conservatory hopes to continue working with Frank. She currently runs The Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, an institute for composers she personally mentors. By Spring 2025, Frank decided that she was going to collaborate with Pacific. She hopes to bring in her alumni composers, and she has a hundred of them. In her interview, she said, “I could flood the school with [composers]. They are singer-songwriters, jazzers, a lot of classical, a lot of people doing multiple things.” While this first year of collaboration was an introduction to new ideas and early conversations, it is the start of something special and exciting.
The Conservatory will be setting an example for other music institutions. There are limitless possibilities, and Frank hopes to “make the Conservatory experience more relevant. Make bridges. Get practical experiences like writing, arranging, doing all those things.” She advocates for composers to be people, to share stories, and to be a witness to the time that they spend on this planet.
The years spent in college are meant to prepare you not only for your time in college, but for the rest of your career. How can your education serve your career decades down the line? The bridge building between Pacific’s Conservatory and The Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music is the starting point of growth, unlike anything a composition program has ever seen.
Gabriela Lena Frank’s Recent Works
Her most recent release is Conquest Requiem–a choral and orchestral piece recorded with the Nashville Symphony. Frank described, “The piece is about the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the Early 1500s. Those in the diaspora were affected by it. We wouldn’t be if that clash, if the colonization, didn't happen. And the spread of capitalism and slavery of the Indigenous people, it still affects us today.” Told from the perspective of Malenche, a native American woman who later became the translator for Hernán Cortés–the main conquistador of the Aztecs and from the perspective of their son, Martín Cortés. The work tackles heavy themes and is written in multiple languages.
Click here to stream Conquest Requiem.
Premiered in March in Philadelphia, Picaflor (Hummingbird): A Future Myth, rewrites an old Indigenous myth in the future, after the climate crisis, after climate troubles.
Click here for more information on Picaflor (Hummingbird): A Future Myth.
Leyendas: An Andean Walkout was Frank’s first attempt at joining classical with Latin American Indigenous music, and it completely redirected her career.
Click here for more information on Leyendas: An Andean Walkout.
A Final Quote
“Art has a power here. And when you see 300 people on stage, like throwing themselves into this piece, as an audience, you get caught up, and we're all in this moment revisiting this. It’s hard to have discussions around things, but artists can do that.”
Gabriela Lena Frank, 2025