BIO

Soprano Gabriela Atkinson is a recent graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a BM in Vocal Performance with minors in Marketing and Chicano Studies. She has studied with Janet Smith, Dr. Rebecca Tomlinson (LA Opera), and Krystle Menendez. She currently works with several choral ensembles, performing with Canyon Hill’s Presbyterian Church Choir, has contributed to CSUF’s Concert Choir as a Soprano Section Leader under the direction of Dr. Christopher Peterson, and has toured South Africa/Rwanda with the acclaimed CSUF University Singers under the direction of Grammy-Award-winning Dr. Robert Istad. She has performed in venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, the Honda Center, the Forum, as well as performances at the Disney Concert Hall and the Segestrom Center for the Arts. As such, she has performed in choral groups alongside Broadway stars Patti LuPone, Skylar Astin, Sierra Boggess, Sutton Foster, Norm Lewis, and Brian Stokes Mitchell, worked with conductors Gustavo Dudamel and John Williams, and has sung in countless concerts with Andrea Bocceli, having a solo opportunity in one of his shared pop pieces at the Hollywood Bowl and the Forum. 

Gabriela has also appeared on the operatic stage with CSUF’s Opera Theatre in scenes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro as Susana, from Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel as Gretel, and from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte as Fiordiligi. Alongside other peers, Gabriela competed in Robert Hansen’s Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition during the 70th Annual National Opera Association National Conference in Savannah, Georgia, taking home second place in Division One Opera. Additionally, she has been in full productions of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene as One Opera. Additionally, she has been in full productions of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene as Jennie Hildebrand and Claudio Monteverdi’s L'incoronazione di Poppea as the Goddess Fortuna, and finished CSUF's recent production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte as The Queen of the Night. 

Alongside CSUF’s Opera Director Dr. Kerry Jennings, she has assisted the program as an Opera Assistant through the use of social media marketing, increasing student participation and attracting larger audiences. She also finished her Presidency of the female music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota, the Lambda Chi chapter, and continues to promote the CSUF Opera Program. She hopes to further her education in both marketing and vocal performance, to bring awareness to classical music to younger audiences.