Gabriel Vicéns

Gabriel Vicéns (born March 16, 1988) is a Puerto Rican guitarist, composer, producer, bandleader, educator, and visual artist currently based in New York City.

Early life and education
Born and raised in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Vicéns began his musical training at the age of 14, and shortly after, he began playing jazz in local clubs. He attended the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz and Caribbean Music studies, graduating summa cum laude as the first guitarist in the program in 2010. Later on, in 2016, he moved to New York City and attended Queens College, receiving a Master of Music in 2017. Between 2019 and 2021, Vicéns studied painting at The Art Students League of New York with color-field painter Pat Lipsky. In 2022, he received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Studies and Performance from Stony Brook University under the direction of Ray Anderson. He studied guitar with Fernando Mattina and Paul Bollenback, and composition with Carlos Cabrer, Daria Semegen, and Lois V Vierk.

Career
Vicéns leads a number of his own groups and has collaborated with many jazz greats, including Eddie Gómez, David Sánchez, Alex Sipiagin, and Miguel Zenón. At the age of 24, Vicéns became an adjunct professor at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico where he taught private guitar lessons until 2015. He has released four studio albums under his name: Point In Time (2012),   Days (2015),  The Way We Are Created (2021),  and Mural (2024). His second and third albums were released on Greg Osby's label, Inner Circle Music. Vicéns' latest album was released on the Milan-based record label Stradivarius and features a collection of  contemporary  chamber works for different types of ensembles.

In addition, Vicéns is co-leader of the free improvisation/experimental group No Base Trio formed in 2010 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. No Base Trio has released two albums under the label Setola di Maiale. Their debut eponymous album was released in 2020 and their second studio album, NBT II, in 2022. Vicéns is a recipient of the 2023 Chamber Music America "New Jazz Works." His work has been featured and reviewed in publications including DownBeat, JazzTimes, All About Jazz, Jazzwise, Musica Jazz, Jazz Journal, Jazz Inside, El Nuevo Día, El Vocero, and Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular.

Selected Works

 * Carnal, for violin and piano (2019)
 * Una Superficie Sin Rostro, for piano (2020)
 * Sueños Ligados, for violin, cello, and piano (2020)
 * Mural, for clarinet, violin, and piano (2021)
 * La Esfera, for cello and piano (2021)
 * Ficción, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn (2021)
 * El Matorral, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and vibraphone (2022)