about gabriela
GABRIELA COMEAU GORT is a Canadian mezzo-soprano of Guatemalan descent, currently based in Manchester (UK). A captivating and enthusiastic performer, Gabriela's singing already spans Spain, England, Italy, Chile, and North America. Gabriela enjoys story-telling by merging new and under-performed music with her interpretations of older works from the Western classical music canon.
Gabriela has recently completed an intensive one-year Master of Music in Opera and Vocal Performance at the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, UK). She will begin a Postgraduate Diploma at the RNCM in September 2025 as a scholar. Gabriela is currently studying under the tutelage of Mary Plazas. She is a recent and proud graduate of the University of Ottawa, where she obtained a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance (magna cum laude) studying with esteemed bass-baritone John Avey.
Gabriela is thrilled to be spending her summer in London and Oxford (UK), as the 2025 mezzo-soprano Waterperry Young Artist. Her upcoming and past roles in opera productions / scenes include Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdinck), Nancy (Albert Herring, Britten), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten), Orphée (Orpfée et Eurydice, Gluck), Autumn (The Fairy Queen, Purcell), Didimus (Theodora, Handel), Olga (Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky), Zweite/Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart), Cupid (Venus and Adonis (Blow).
Equally comfortable in oratorio repertoire, Gabriela has been the alto soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart's Coronation Mass and Requiem. Looking ahead to 2026, she will be the mezzo-soprano soloist in Caroline Shaw’s The Listeners and Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.
Gabriela has throughly enjoyed her first year of postgraduate studies at the RNCM. Some highlights include being a finalist for the 2025 Williams-Howard Prize, being a soloist for Messiaen’s Harawi, and participating in two Opera North residencies. Passionate about new music, she recently created the role of Meghadhwani in a new Indian opera entitled Prayer of a Peacock during RNCM Lab Week.
An avid and innovative recitalist, Gabriela made her solo recital debut (Feb 2023) in Santiago, Chile featuring vocal music by under-performed composers surrounding the theme of Latin America and Spain. Gabriela's debut was such a success that she was invited by the German Ambassador to perform a solo recital at Teatro Cultural Las Condes featuring the music of Kurt Weill in collaboration with the Embassy of Germany in Chile (June 2024).
Gabriela is the co-founder of Voices Unheard, an Ottawa-based music collective that seeks to promote student compositions and under-performed art song through local emerging talent. Through her collective, she has had the immense privilege of organizing virtual recitals and premiering new music. In fact, her commission of Sappho at the Coffeeshop by Philip Lukic was so successful that it had its live premiere in collaboration with Ottawa Chamberfest (City Series / ChamberPride 2024). She maintains a special personal interest Latin American art song and opera, and frequently researches women composers from these regions. Gabriela aims to introduce this music to audiences and student alike, and will be hosting an RNCM Spotlight concert highlighting composers from this diaspora. She is a strong advocate for accessibility and diversity in opera and classical music.
Gabriela has been the recipient of several awards for vocal excellence including, but not limited to: the RNCM Jacob Marsland Award, the Gaston Héon Undergraduate Scholarship in Music, the Anna-Brancker Schubert Award, NATS-NCR Most Outstanding Performance (Senior Division), and has received generous bursaries from the Art Song Foundation of Canada. She has received intense training at prestigious institutions such as Opera North, Orford Music Academy, Barachois Summer Vocal Academy, and the Barcelona Festival of Song. Gabriela is thankful for the support of her family, professors/mentors, friends, the Vocal Sector at the University of Ottawa, and the RNCM.
When Gabriela is not singing she likes to read, play pool, go for walks, listen to Marvin Gaye on her record player, or sit on the couch with her adorable dachshund Churro.
