Isabel Gabbe

She is a certified music physiologist (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, 2022) and a certified business coach (WIFI Tirol, 2025). Since 2025, she has been working with musicians, educators, and executives on topics related to musicians’ health, communication, leadership, and resilience.

Before her appointment at the Mozarteum, Isabel Gabbe gained extensive teaching experience at conservatories, music schools, general education schools, and in early childhood education. From 2009 to 2014, she served as coordinator and a member of the educational leadership team for the Education Program of the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, where she developed innovative music education concepts for children and teachers. She regularly gives master classes, workshops, and professional development sessions in Europe and Brazil and is a sought-after speaker on topics related to piano pedagogy, musicians’ health, and university teaching methods. In addition to her university duties, she serves as vice president of EPTA Austria (European Piano Teachers Association), where she is committed to promoting professional networking, pedagogical innovation, and international exchange among piano teachers.

As a concert pianist, Isabel Gabbe performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and art song accompanist in Europe, Brazil, and the United States. Her concert engagements have taken her to venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Glocke in Bremen, the Herkulessaal and the Gasteig in Munich, as well as the Teatro Guaíra in Curitiba, one of South America’s most prestigious concert halls. As a soloist, she has performed with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest German Philharmonic, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra Sinfônica do Paraná.

As a prize winner of numerous national and international competitions, she has been honored at the Bremen Piano Competition, the Maria Canals Duo Competition in Barcelona, the International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta, and in selection processes organized by the German Music Council, among others.

Her artistic work is documented through radio, television, and CD productions for Deutschlandradio Berlin, Sender Freies Berlin, WDR, Radio Bremen, and France 2. Her discography includes solo, chamber music, and art song recordings featuring works by Bach, Debussy, Ravel, Albéniz, Rossini, John Patrick Thomas, Schnittke, Françaix, Martin, and Pirchner. As the founder and artistic director of the French chamber music festival Moments Musicaux de la baie du Mont Saint Michel, she shaped its artistic profile from 2005 to 2017 and fostered exchange between established artists and young talents. She has been the festival’s honorary president since 2023.

She is particularly committed to promoting young musical talent. As such, Isabel Gabbe regularly serves as a jury member for the two major youth music competitions, “prima la musica” and “Jugend musiziert.” As an educator, author, and academic leader, she actively participates in professional and scholarly discourse on music education, leadership, and higher education development. Her publications have appeared in *Üben & Musizieren* (Schott Music), in publications by Waxmann Verlag—including *Innsbrucker Perspektiven zur Musikpädagogik*—as well as in the anthology *Kultur der Lehre: Musikausbildung an Hochschulen neu denken* (edited by Reinhart von Gutzeit and Thomas Rietschel), in which she addresses issues of higher education development and leadership culture. In addition, she developed and published MozTrickBox, a collection of music education games and game instructions for instrumental and instrumental ensemble lessons, which is available on the Mozarteum Innsbruck YouTube channel. As a guest keynote speaker at the international EPTA conference in Tallinn, she delivered the opening lecture, “Gain through Game,” on playful learning in instrumental and instrumental ensemble instruction. In her artistic, pedagogical, and scholarly work, she advocates for a holistic and sustainable understanding of musical excellence that combines artistic quality, health, personal development, and innovative educational approaches.