Gonzalo Hidalgo, a musician and certified surgeon, began his musical studies at the age of nine at the famed El Sistema in the state of Barinas, Venezuela. Staring in 1994 he was one of the founding members and bassoonists of the National Children's Symphony of Venezuela, traveling and performing in some of the most prestigious stages in North America and Europe.

He studied bassoon with some of the most prominent bassoon teachers of our time, including Antonio Aray, Henning Trog and Stefan Schweigert, all members of the Berliner Philharmonic; Matthias Racz, principal bassoonist of the Tonhalle Zurich Orchestra; Sergio Azzolini in Basel, Switzerland; Dag Jensen at the School of Music and Art in Munich; and Klaus Thunemann at the Hans Eileer Music School in Berlin.

As the principal bassoonist of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela he has performed under Gustavo Dudamel. As a soloist he has performed under the baton of Eduardo Marturet, Alfredo Rugeles, Gustavo Dudamel and Claudio Abbado with whom collaborated in a performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for winds. He was the principal bassoonist in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Simon Rattle and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5, under Claudio Abbado.

Hidalgo is featured as the principal bassoonist in several Deutsche Gramophone recordings under Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra with whom he also toured to prominent concert halls in North America, Europe and Asia.

As a conductor, Hidalgo has led some of the most important youth and professional orchestras in Venezuela, Colombia and Peru such as the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Caracas Symphony Orchestra, the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra, the Francisco de Miranda Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia por el Peru and Iberacademy.

He has studied conducting with prominent conductors such as Eduardo Marturet, Teresa Hernández and Alejandro Posada with whom he completed his Master of Music degree at the EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia.

In recent years he has successfully conducted works by Wagner, Ravel, Debussy, Rimski-Kórsakov, Beethoven, Fauré, Shostakovich, Mahler, Brahms, Mozart, Verdi, Weber, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Márquez, Ginastera, Carreño, Estévez, Villa-Lobos, Moncayo and Tchaikovsky.

He is a member of the national school of bassoons of El Sistema in Venezuela and is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting at Shenandoah University with Professor Jan Wagner.