ABOUT
American violinist and conductor Gabriel Lefkowitz has captivated audiences throughout the U.S. and abroad in a dynamic and multi-faceted career as a performer, creator, and educator.
Gabriel is the Concertmaster & Resident Conductor of The Louisville Orchestra, Music Director of the Louisville Youth Orchestra, Artistic Director of The Chamber Orchestra of Louisville, and is active as a soloist, guest conductor, guest concertmaster, chamber musician, and teacher. A progressive musician of the 21st century, Gabriel is also a composer who has written the music for several video games, composed several full length albums of original music, and was the featured violin soloist on the soundtrack for the film Harriet (Focus Features).
Conductor
At The Louisville Orchestra, Gabriel serves as Resident Conductor in addition to his role as Concertmaster. He can be seen on the podium in concert series including the LO's statewide In Harmony Tour, Pops, Films, Music Without Borders, OrKIDStra, and more.
Gabriel is Founder & Artistic Director of The Chamber Orchestra of Louisville, with 2025-2026 marking the third season of this dynamic professional ensemble, featuring three performances of chamber orchestra repertoire.
Starting with the 2025-2026 Season, Gabriel assumes the post of Music Director of the Louisville Youth Orchestra, where he will lead and oversee the artistic efforts of the region's premiere youth oriented arts non-profit and its nearly 500 students, and where he will conduct the organization's top ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra.
As former Artistic Director & Conductor of the Louisville Civic Orchestra (2020-2025), Gabriel led the organization to new artistic heights and civic distinction for its high quality performances, diverse programming and audience engagement, and fundraising/outreach initiatives on behalf of homeless shelters, cancer support networks, and healthcare workers.
Gabriel has conducted ensembles around the country and abroad including Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston and a vast array of youth orchestras including those of of Boston, Taiwan, Knoxville, Central Kentucky, and Juilliard’s Pre-College division.
Violinist
During his 9-year tenure as Concertmaster of The Louisville Orchestra so far, Gabriel has led over 200 different programs from the concertmaster chair and has performed the violin concerti of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Bach, Vivaldi, and others. In October 2019, Gabriel performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with LO music director Teddy Abrams, Jim James, and several LO colleagues to promote the orchestra's new album The Order of Nature.
In 2011, at the age of 23, Gabriel became one of the youngest concertmasters of a professional orchestra in the U.S. when he was appointed Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. During his 6-year tenure with KSO, Gabriel performed the concerti of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Korngold, Mozart (No. 3), and others. He also founded the KSO’s still beloved and wildly successful Concertmaster Series (then called Gabriel Lefkowitz & Friends) at which he performed over 30 recitals (16 different programs with no overlapping repertoire) over the course of 5 seasons.
Recent guest engagements include concerto performances of Brahms (Brevard Philharmonic), Stravinsky (Monteux School and Music Festival Orchestra), Florence Price No. 1 (McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra - the Ohio premiere of this work), Mozart No. 4 (Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra), Mozart No. 5 (Oak Ridge Symphony), Philip Glass No. 1 (Ocala Symphony), and performing as guest concertmaster with the Phoenix Symphony, Brevard Music Center, Britt Festival Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Nu Deco Ensemble.
Composer
Under the alias Green Forge Studio Gabriel has composed the soundtracks for multiple video games, including the recent releases Aces & Adventures and Pop-Up Dungeon. He also created music for the multi-million dollar theme resort Ancient Lore Village in East Tennessee. His concert music has been performed by the Phoenix Symphony, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, and the Dubuque Festival Orchestra. He has released four original albums (and one Christmas album!) to YouTube, and his music has been enjoyed by over a million users on the platform, in addition to being licensed by a multitude of content creators, podcasters, and Twitch streamers.
Gabriel holds a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University where he studied music and economics, and a Masters from The Juilliard School where he studied violin with Joel Smirnoff and Masao Kawasaki. He has studied conducting with pedagogues including Michael Jinbo, Markand Thakar, Larry Rachleff, David Effron, and others.