Gaëlle Solal discovered the classical guitar at the age of five. After studying at the Marseille Conservatoire, she entered the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) at the age of 16. There, she was unanimously awarded First Prize in guitar. She took part in international competitions whilst studying for her Master’s degree at the Cologne University of Music. In 1998, she became the first Frenchwoman to win one of the most prestigious classical guitar competitions, the Alessandria Competition. In 2006, she became a professor at the Higher Conservatories of Córdoba and Seville. In 2009, following a spell in Brazil, she gave up teaching to devote herself fully to performing.