(Slovenia/USA)
Professor, University of North Colorado – Greely, formerly of the University of Southern California , principal cellist of the Phoenix Symphony, active soloist and chamber music performer in North America and Europe. Praised for his captivatingly beautiful tone (RTV Slovenia) and for his deep and stirring interpretations (Večer).
Growing up in a musical family, Gal declared the desire to play cello at age three and studied in Slovenia and later inCroatia, where he won an international competition that led to an invitation and a full-tuition scholarship at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he earned his Doctoral degree. Gal’s mentors include Eleonore Schoenfeld, Nathaniel Rosen, Daniel Rothmuller and Dobrila Berković-Magdalenić.
While in Los Angeles, Gal collaborated with many renowned conductors and soloists, including Sergiu Comissiona, Zubin Mehta, Mehli Mehta, Lionel Friend, Carl St.Clair, Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrel, Midori Goto, Isaac Stern, and Itzak Perlman. As a soloist, Gal performed Haydn, Shostakovich, Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Bruch and Couperin with orchestras in Europe and the United States.
As a member of Tetraktys String Quartet Gal Faganel toured and competed in the United States and in Europe. He also performed as a member of various other chamber ensembles, particularly his favorite – string trio. Since his teenage years he has regularly appeared in recitals in Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal, and in the United States.
Gal has won many international competitions and received numerous awards, including the International Cello Competition “Antonio Janigro” in Croatia, the American String Teacher’s Association Competition in California, the Slovenian National Competition as a soloist and with piano trio. In 1997 he was honored with the title“The Young Musician of the Year“ in Slovenia. The following year he won a national competition to represent Slovenia at the EBU-Eurovision competition in Lisbon, Portugal.
He also has a number of radio and CD recordings to his credit. These include live broadcasts and archival recordings for National Radio Slovenia, Radio Koper, Holland Radio, and Classical KUSC in Los Angeles. Recently he began to research, perform and record Slovenian music for violoncello.
