Gabriel Schwabe is a laureate of three of the world‘s most prestigious cello competitions the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann in Berlin, the Concours Rostropovich in Paris and the Pierre Fournier Award in London. As a soloist he has worked with important orchestras such as the London Philharmonia, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Ulster Orchestra, the NDR Radio Philharmonic, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the DSO Berlin, the Danish Chamber Orchestra, the Malmö and Norrköping Symphony Orchestras and the NCPA Orchestra Beijing with conductors such as Marek Janowski, Eivind Gullberg-Jensen, Dennis Russell-Davies, Adam Fischer, Joanna Mallwitz, Cornelius Meister, Giancarlo Guerrero, Michael Sanderling and Marc Soustrot.

In chamber music, he regularly performs with artists such as Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Kirill Gerstein, Martin Helmchen, Roland Pöntinen and Enrico Pace. In 2010 he gave his recital debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. He is a regular guest at festivals such as the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Kronberg Festival, Amsterdam Biennale and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

As an exclusive recording artist with record label Naxos, he has released seven albums to great critical acclaim, among them a recording of the Elgar and Bridge Cello Concertos with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Christopher Ward (Hugely impressive and refreshingly straightforward” The Guardian). 2024 will see the release of the complete Beethoven Sonatas and Variations with Nicholas Rimmer.

He was born in Berlin to German-Spanish parents, studied with Catalin Ilea at the University of Arts in Berlin and with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy and received further stimulus from Janos Starker, Gary Hoffmann and Gidon Kremer. Having taught at the HfMT Cologne and the Conservatorium Maastricht, he will assume a new role as cello professor at the Musikhochschule Lübeck in 2024. He is married to violinist Hellen Weiß and plays a cello by Giuseppe Guarneri (Cremona, 1695).