Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano Gabriela Linares, completed her undergraduate degree at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and masters degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She will be returning as an artist of the Savannah Voice Festival (SVF), to perform the role of Ramona in the premier of Jodi Goble’s The Eleanors for the 2025 National Opera Association Conference. She previously joined SVF for their 2024 Summer Festival and performed the role of Ramona in The Eleanors’ workshop. In the spring of 2025, she is slated to perform in Opera Parallele’s production of Harvey Milk (Anne Kronenberg) after her debut as Rosie Casals in Opera Parallele and SFJAZZ’s co-production and premier of Balls by Laura Karpman. She was a 2023 and 2024 Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of St. Louis where she performed in their production of Susannah as Mrs. Ott (2023) and Philip Glass’ Galileo Galilei as the Scribe (2024), in addition to covering the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville (2024). In the fall of 2024 she returned for their Opera On The Go production of Pirates of Penzance as Ruth. Linares was awarded the 2024 Elihu Hyndman Memorial Award by Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Additionally she is a winner of the Oregon District (2023) and award recipient of the North West Region of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition.

At the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ms. Linares has performed in the productions of Giulio Cesare (Cornelia) and The Consul (Mother). She performed in various productions during her time at the Oberlin Conservatory including: Trouble in Tahiti (Dinah), Dialogues of the Carmelites (Mère Marie), and Cosi Fan Tutte (Dorabella). Some of her instructors include Manny Pérez, Rhoslyn Jones, Jonathan Beyer, and Marlene Rosen.

 Gabriela recognizes the importance and value of music that represents diverse communities, identities, and our times. Ms. Linares founded the Oberlin Latinx Music Union in the Fall of 2018, and since then has been involved in various community engagement projects. During the academic year of 2020-21, Linares taught in the Oakland School District Linares served as a Bilingual Literacy Instructor and provided Music and Arts enrichment courses wit the Oakland Unified School District at the Lockwood Steam Academy. Gabriela joined the San Francisco Girls Chorus faculty as their Level I Director and Theory Instructor from Fall of 2021 to Spring of 2023. In addition to her vocal training, Gabriela Linares obtained a musicology degree at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a focus on Ethnomusicology. Open Access Musicology’s second volume published Linares’s first article, “Reimagining the Representation of Ethnographic Knowledge: The Philosophy and Methodology of a Digital Humanities Project”, co-written with her undergrad professor and mentor, Jennifer Fraser. Her aspiration is to expand the lens from which music is perceived. Gabriela Linares is an avid promoter of repertoire that celebrates diversity, multiplicity, social justice, and humanity.