After attending the Humanist Gymnasium, Gabriele Donà studied violin at the conservatory of his native Padua and musicology at the university there. He completed his studies in orchestral and choral conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. As a violinist he was active in the Quartetto d'Archi di Padova, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico G. Verdi, Trieste, I Filarmonici di Padova as well as the Pro Arte Orchestra Vienna and participated in the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg in the class of Yair Kless. Various engagements have taken him, among others, to the Landestheater Niederbayern as choral director and to Bautzen as choral director and Kapellmeister. Gabriele Donà has also conducted the Pro Arte Orchestra, Vienna, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, the New Lausitz Philharmonic Orchestra, Görlitz, the Orchestra of the F. X. Šalda Theatre, Liberec, the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Magdeburg and the Coro di Praga. Numerous performances have taken him to the Dresden Frauenkirche and the Berlin Konzerthaus. In 2004 he discovered and catalogued the holdings of the music manuscripts of the Jewish Community of Padua (time span: 1834-1942, 315 choral scores as well as corresponding individual parts). This was followed by the publication of his work and the award by the Accademia Galileiana, Padova. This was followed by the publication of his work and an award from the Accademia Galileiana, Padova. His interest in linking music and identity moved him to rehearse and record a selection of songs in Lower and Upper Sorbian with the choir Klangwerkstatt Dresden ("Lieder aus dem Lohsaer Liederbuch", 2017 rbb, Berlin). In 2017 Gabriele Donà was accepted as Maestro Collaboratore at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome. In this capacity he assisted in the production of "Tristan und Isolde" at the Teatro Comunale of Modena as well as at the Teatro Comunale of Ferrara (a co-production with the Staatstheater Nürnberg). Since February 2018 Gabriele Donà worked at the Staatstheater Mainz. First he worked in the artistic operations directorate and moved to the position of chief scheduler from 2019. From the 20/21 season, he was appointed head of opera operations and casting director. Following this, Gabriele Donà was appointed to the Cologne Opera. There he is currently working as opera director.
