Gabriel Herrera
Miami-based award-winning trombonist pursuing a doctorate at Frost
PERFORMANCE
Gabriel Herrera has performed internationally at acclaimed venues including the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Jazz à Vienne (France), and Lincoln Center (New York) and alongside prominent jazz artists such as Maria Schneider, Emmet Cohen, and John Fedchock. Recently, Herrera won first place in the International Trombone Association and American Trombone Workshop jazz trombone ensemble competitions with the Frost Jazz Trombone Ensemble.
Herrera's versatile career has led to performance credits across genres, including as the principal trombonist of the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra and as a pop trombonist with Tropics Entertainment's private event dance band Cameo.
Herrera has founded and directed several professional ensembles throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, including the Happy Valley Jazz Octet, Happy Valley Trombone Quartet, the Gabriel Herrera Big Band, and the Gabriel Herrera Quartet.
Available for: Private and Corporate Events, Jazz Combos and Big Bands, Orchestral Engagements, Chamber Music Projects, Recording Sessions
TEACHING
Gabriel Herrera teaches applied trombone, jazz improvisation, arranging/composition, and music theory to students of all levels, from middle and high schoolers preparing for auditions to collegiate and adult musicians.
His teaching background includes graduate assistantships during his doctorate at the University of Miami Frost School of Music and during his master's degree at Penn State School of Music. At the collegiate level, Herrera has taught individual applied lessons in jazz and classical instrumental performance, coached ensembles including the Penn State Trombone Choir and the Frost Studio Jazz Band, taught courses including Trombone Methods for Music Education Majors, and TAed courses including Jazz Vocal Improvisation, Jazz Arranging, and Jazz Improvisation.
At the secondary level, Herrera has taught high schoolers and middle schoolers through his faculty position at the 2026 Frost Summer Instrumental Intensive camp, adjudicating ensembles at the Penn State Jazz Festival, and touring East Coast high school band programs as a clinician with the Penn State Graduate Brass Quintet.
Available for (in-person in Miami or online): Private Trombone Lessons, Private Jazz Lessons (all instruments), Audition and All-State Preparation, Arranging and Composition Lessons
COMPOSING & ARRANGING
Gabriel Herrera has written dozens of works for big band, jazz octet, jazz trombone ensemble, classical chamber ensemble, and jazz quartet that have been performed across the United States (and, soon, Latvia at the 2026 International Trombone Festival). His training in arranging, composition, and engraving includes study or masterclass work with Ole Mathisen, Don Sickler, Jihye Lee, and David Gibson.
Available for: Original Composition Commissions, Custom Arrangements for School and Professional Ensembles, Engraving and Copy Work, Transcription Services
BIO & PRESS KIT
Gabriel Herrera is a Miami-based trombonist, educator, arranger, and arts administrator, currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Trombone Performance at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, where he is a Henry Mancini Institute Fellow and Jazz Trombone Graduate Assistant. He recently won first place at both the International Trombone Association Melba Liston Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition and the American Trombone Workshop Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition with the Frost Jazz Trombone Ensemble.
As a performer, Herrera has performed internationally at notable venues such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center, and the Arsht Center and performed alongside jazz artists including Maria Schneider, Emmet Cohen, and John Fedchock. Having established himself as a versatile trombonist, he also has extensive classical and pop/rock experience, having performed as the principal trombone of the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra and with several dance band companies in Miami such as Tropics Entertainment, Noah Grey Music, and Jordan Kahn Music Company.
As an educator, Herrera's multiple graduate teaching assistantships in jazz studies, jazz trombone, and classical trombone throughout his graduate work have allowed him to work with large ensembles such as the Frost Studio Jazz Band, Inner Dimensions Big Band, the Frost Jazz Octet, and the Penn State Trombone Choir in addition to gaining classroom experience teaching improvisation, applied trombone, and arranging.
Herrera also has substantial arts administration experience, having been the Executive Director of the Nittany Valley Symphony for the 2024-2025 season, where he oversaw all operations including concert production, fundraising, marketing, budgeting, and board relations. He has further founded and directed multiple ensembles, including the Happy Valley Jazz Octet, Happy Valley Trombone Quartet, Gabriel Herrera Big Band, and Gabriel Herrera Quartet.
He holds a Master of Music in Trombone Performance from Penn State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with a Special Concentration in Jazz Studies from Columbia University, where he graduated with departmental honors in music. Throughout his doctoral studies, Herrera has studied with Dante Luciani; previous primary instructors include Jennifer Wharton, Mark L. Lusk, Joshua Davis, and David Gibson.
Full CV available upon request at gabe@gabrielherreramusic.com.
