Maria Gabriela Cotter Taylor, better known as Gaby Cotter, grew up in a very musical family that supported and encouraged her abilities from a very young age. Her mom sings and plays guitar and without thinking about it, she gave Gaby the gift of singing. On the other hand, her dad with his huge musical collection fed Gaby's curiosity for sounds and stories from around the world. This multi-talent artist has been raced in Los Algarrobos a small town in Chiriquí Province, Panamá.
Her grandfather was a writer. Gaby said that she remembered seeing his grampa's notebooks, the typewriter, and feeling a crazy urge to create stories on her own. Gaby "wrote" her first short story when she was 5 years old and her mother copied it for her since she still didn't know how to write. She put together her first poem at 7 years old and she didn't stop creating stories and poetry until she was 14, when her mom taught her how to play guitar. That's when the poems became songs.
In 2007, began his formal music education at Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí, standing out quickly for her charisma and interpretative strength. Her first vocal mentor, Wanda Castillo, invite her to be part of the prestigious polyphonic choir "A Viva Voz". Was in this particular group the place when Gaby also discovered her love for Choral Music.
Later, she will continue her music degree at the Universidad de Panamá, also finding the opportunity to experiment in multiple artistic fields, such as Theater, Dance, and Painting.
Besides her performances, Gaby let her love for choral music grows, participating in stylistically diverse choral groups. Like Boca Chiusa Choir singing traditional songs from Panama, Brazil, Angola, and Peru, arrangements made by its conductor, Elcio de Sa; Bach Foundation, a group aimed at recreating the vocal music of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, directed by the Panamanian pianist Leonardo Durham. She received conducting classes from the German Kerstin Behnke, the Berliner Cappella director. Cotter was part of the Voce Opera quartet, with whom they recorded the National Anthem of Panama in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Música Viva Choir. With this quartet, she also performed as part of Andrea Bocelli’s Choir during his first concert in Panama. She worked as Assistant Director of the Choir of the Universidad de Panamá and created the Experimental Music Student Choir.
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In 2013 she got a degree in Fine Arts with a specialty in Music, Summa Cum Laude. During these years, Cotter has continued her musical now with her other passion: teaching. Among her most important works during this time was FELARO Foundation, teaching music to children of limited resources on the risk of exclusion at the community of El Valle de Antón, Panamá; a project founded by María Eugenia Arosemena de Feliu. Cotter worked as a vocal teacher and choir conductor from the beginning of the project and for the next three years.
In 2015, she got married to the Panamanian flutist Melvin Lam, with whom she merged musically, resulting in her first live album: Gaby Cotter and In-Groove Project. Combining Jazz, Bolero, Son, and Bossa Nova in a fresh proposal able to satisfy the tastes of the most demanding listeners of each genre. The same year, Gaby won a scholarship at Berklee College of Music to become a full-time student. In September 2016, Cotter moved with her husband to Boston, MA to start her studies.
In recent performances, Gaby has been a soloist of important concerts in The Greater Boston Area such as the Harborwalk Sounds Concert Series, The Show a concert conducted by Rob Lewis (arranger and producer for Christina Aguilera, P. Diddy, and many more). The Rhythms of Lorca, a concert presented by The Mediterranean Institute with the well-known Spanish cajón player Israel El Piraña Suarez; The sold-out musical In The Heights, The Divas Latinas Showcase, The Latin-American Vive Music Festival, Wheels of Happiness Annual Gala, just to mention a few.
On her year abroad living in Spain, Gaby performed in prestigious venues such as Radio City, La Vitti, Matisse Club and closed the concert season from the series Un Lago de Conciertos in The City of Arts and Science in Valencia. Gaby also performed in Rome in an intimate concert at Il Baffo Della Gioconda.
In the last 10 years, Gaby has shared the stage with important names from the worldwide music scene such as Cassandra Wilson, Aida Cuevas, Victor "Vitín" Paz, Ariacne Trujillo, El Piraña Suarez, and Andrea Bocelli, among others. Cotter's mentors include Jessica Hidalgo, Wanda Castillo, Daniela Schächter, Lisa Thorson, Maggie Scott, Jeannie Gagne, Rebbecca Perricone, and Viktorija Pilatovic as voice teachers. Also, she had the privilege to learn from musicians like Oscar Stagnaro, Kevin Harris, Jackson Schultz, Daniel Ian Smith, Bob Pilkington, Rebecca Cline, Colin Sapp, Fernando Brandao, and many more.
Currently, Cotter has several musical projects going on. Her single "Sé Que Te Voy a Ver" ("I know I'm going to see you") was released on March 9 and caught the attention of local and international media. Also, her most recent song called "Miento" ("I Lie") released this past June 10 and is available on all digital platforms.
Additionally, she has her Singing and Art studio in Cambridge, MA, where she currently resides with her husband. She continues as a recording coach and session singer for movie music, commercials, and backing vocals.
