Gabriele Leite

Biography

Gabriele Leite is a Brazilian classical guitarist born in 1997 in Cerquilho, São Paulo, to parents working as an industrial mechanic and seamstress. She received her first guitar from her grandfather at age 6 and began formal musical training through Projeto Guri, a social music initiative, where she progressed from basic posture lessons to sheet music literacy. At age 11, she enrolled at the Conservatório de Tatuí, where she studied guitar, music theory, perception, and choir while maintaining a rigorous dual schedule of morning school and afternoon conservatory classes, eventually earning a scholarship for her final two years.

Leite's professional trajectory accelerated significantly during her undergraduate years at UNESP (2016 onwards), where she pursued a Bachelor's degree in classical guitar. In 2018, within a span of less than 15 days, she won three of Brazil's most prestigious guitar competitions—Souza Lima, Musicalis, and Assovio Vertentes—establishing herself as a major force in the Brazilian classical guitar community. During this period, she won the Magda Tagliaferro Scholarship Program and studied under Prof. Dr. Paulo Martelli, who encouraged her to pursue international opportunities. She subsequently earned a Master's degree with Honors from the Manhattan School of Music under Mark Delpriora, becoming the first Black Brazilian woman to graduate from that institution.

Based in New York, Leite has achieved international recognition as one of Brazil's foremost instrumentalists. She was the first classical guitarist to appear on the Forbes Under 30 list in 2020 and has been nominated for the Prêmio da Música Brasileira (Brazilian Music Award) in 2024. Her debut album Territórios was released in 2023 on Rocinante Records, followed by her second album Gunûncho in 2025, which features compositions by women composers for guitar. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Musical Performance at Stony Brook University and has performed at major international festivals across Brazil, the United States, and Europe.

Fun Facts

• Leite became the first classical guitarist to appear on the Forbes Under 30 list in 2020, a groundbreaking achievement in her field.
• She is the first Black Brazilian woman to graduate from the Manhattan School of Music, marking a significant milestone in classical music representation.
• Her second album Gunûncho (2025) exclusively features compositions by women composers for guitar—an instrument none of them mastered—as a deliberate effort to celebrate and broaden the listening of women's contributions to the classical guitar repertoire.
• In 2025, she opened for legendary Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal at the Psicotrópicos Festival in the Netherlands, demonstrating her growing international prominence.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Prof. Dr. Paulo Martelli - Undergraduate mentor at UNESP who guided her through competition repertoires and encouraged international residency (Competition preparation and repertoire development) [2016-2020]
• Mark Delpriora - Master's degree advisor at Manhattan School of Music; American classical guitarist and composer (Graduate studies in musical performance) [2020-2022]
• David Russell - World-leading contemporary guitarist who encouraged her to pursue studies in the United States after a masterclass at Koblenz International Guitar Festival (Masterclass and mentorship) [2019]
• Sérgio Assad - Influential guitarist whose recommendation for international study echoed through her mentors; attended her performance at Assad Festival (Artistic inspiration and career guidance) [Pre-2016]

Key Collaborators

• Erika Ribeiro - Pianist and producer of her second album Gunûncho (Gunûncho (2025)) [2025]
• Eduardo Gutterres - Guitarist collaborator in chamber music (Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition) [2021]
• Luiz de Godoy - Conductor for her performance of Villa-Lobos guitar concerto (Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto with São Paulo University Orchestra at Sala São Paulo) [Recent]

External Links

• Spotify