violinist
Després gave us a musical simulacrum of the human mind at work – hoping, doubting, achieving and celebrating. This requires a technique capable of varying tone color and dynamic level throughout a phrase – sometimes within a single note – and Gabrielle Després commands all the technique needed to accomplish this and, indeed, anything else she feels is needed to interpret a piece of music truthfully and feelingly.
— Larry Lapidus, The Spokesman Review
Després’s playing was austere and strangely luminous — testaments to her musical imagination and steady bow arm. She beautifully shaped each phrase — sharpening the listeners’ focus and slowing the collective pulse.