Aniel Cabán began studying the viola at age 8 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His love for classical music deepened after attending the Interlochen Arts Camp as a Governor Scholar from Puerto Rico in 1996, inspiring him to pursue a career in music. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music in 2002 and a Master of Music from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2006, where he received the Gabor Ormai Viola Award.
While at CU Boulder, Aniel joined the Boulder Philharmonic’s viola section during the 2003–2004 season and continues to perform with the orchestra to this day. He is the principal violist of the Boulder Chamber Orchestra and a founding member of Sphere Ensemble. He also performs regularly with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Ballet Orchestra, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, Boulder Bach Festival/Compass Resonance Ensemble, and Opera Colorado.
Aniel has performed with esteemed classical artists such as Sarah Chang, André Watts, Midori, Rachel Barton Pine, Zuill Bailey, Natasha Paremski, Andrea Bocelli, and members of the Takács Quartet, as well as an eclectic range of non-classical performers including Jason Mraz, Pink Martini, Hugh Jackman, Portugal. The Man, Jónsi of Sigur Rós, Clay Aiken, Olivia Newton-John, Trampled by Turtles, Boyz II Men, The Eagles, and the Wu-Tang Clan. He is also featured on the soundtrack of the award-winning 2020 docudrama The Social Dilemma, recorded in Longmont, Colorado.
He has performed with the Colorado Bach Ensemble since 2013 and recently began his second full season as the orchestra personnel manager. He values the strong sense of camaraderie within the group and finds it especially rewarding to revisit beloved large-scale Bach works while also discovering smaller cantatas that are new to him each season.