Gabriel Baeza is an 19 year old violin virtuoso. He was born in New York City and moved to Puerto Rico when he was two years old. A violin prodigy, he began to play the violin when he was three years old.
His mother, Loida Fernandez Rivera, helped him practice all through his childhood and taught him music theory and solfege, which she is currently a professor of.
At thirteen years old, he made his debut with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra; under the tutelage of Dr. Francisco Cabán. The concert was conducted by Roselin Pabon.
Gabriel now studies at Bard College where he he has perfomed under Leon Botstein of the American Symphony Orchestra, cellist Luis Garcia-Renart and violinist Daniel Phillips.
Gabriel has been lent a violin that he feels is the violin he can use most effectively. An instrument is a deeply personal thing and a connection between the performer and the instrument is critical.
Gabriel would like to purchase this violin but does not have the resources to do so. The violin is owned by a Bard professor of Music willing to sell it at the bargain price of $40,000. It is a 1750 Landolfi violin. The Landolfi family made violins around the same time as the Stadivari and the Guarneri families. To give some perspective, a Guarneri violin was recently sold for sixteen million dollars and was anonymously donated to Anne Akiko Meyers on loan to her for the rest of her life.
This story inspired Gabriel to try to buy the violin. Understanding that time is short he understands the long odds - but does not want to part with this violin without doing all that he can to keep it.