She was born in Trieste (Italy). She played the piano from the age of 5 and gave her first concert at 12. Obviously with multiple talents, she painted successfully as well. She studied piano at the Conservatory “G Tartini" in Tneste and with Carlo Zecchi at the Mozarteum in Salz burg. After Gian Carlo Menotti supported her talent as a pianist at the Spoleto festival, she became his assistant and began to study stage-direction and conducting. After having taken part as a stage-director and conductor-assistant at the International Youth Festival in Bay reuth in 1975, she studied composition at the Teatro Comunale(Bologna) with Karlheinz Stockhausen and conducting with Franco Ferrara(National Academy of St. Cecilia-Rom and Chigi Academy-Siena) and Sergiu Celibidache (Munich -Muenchner Philharmoniker), among others.
She graduated 1980 from the University of Padua in the Faculty of Foreign languages and Literature During that period she made the defintive decision for the conducting baton; won scholarships and was-as the only female and Italian competitor- outstanding in international conducting competitions (among others The Juilliard School Competiti on-New York;W.Strebi Preis-Luzerner Festspiele, “G Fitelberg” Competition-Katowice, Poland, Masterplayers Competition-Lugano, Switzerland; etc.) After her first appearance as a conductor 1977, she conducted many orchestras including Orch Philh Danzig- Poland, NOS -R.adio Orch. Hilversum -Holland; Radio Sofia Orch -Bulgary, Orquesta Sinfonica Municipal de Caracas, Venezuela, Orch dell’ Arena di Verona-Italy, Stàdt Orch. Solingen-Germany, Boston Youth Orch.-USA.
In 1987/88 she won a scholarship from the Deutschen Musikrat and became an assistant of Herbert von Karajan in Berlin She led the “ Kammerensemble Berlin”, founded by herself., which brought her recognition and a special support from the German President, R von Weizsacker. A documentary film about her was broadcast by RIAS Berlin 1990. In the same year she was appointed as a Cavaliere Ufficiale of the Italian Republic due to her artistic merit. After harsh strokes of fate, including several serious car accidents, she continued to take part in benefit- concerts which are organized partly by herself (especially for people with cancer) and other musical events.
Unfortunately she became a victim of violence in 2008 and because of the injustice she suffered, she started her own associati on for Victims of Violence "Stand up again", in whose name she is giving lectures at universities and plays or conducts Concerts for Peace in spite of 50% handicap in her left hand. The concert with the Chamber Orchestra "Ensemble Archi di Milano" (La Scala) and the renowned recorder soloist Maurice Steger(live recorded in Milan Dec. 2011) is currently available as a CD. Other concerts followed with the same orchestra and other soloists( Matthias Ziegler, Jürgen Franz) or small piano recitals. In November 2019 Carli conducted a concert in Zurich with the orchestra "La Fenice di Milano" and the flute soloist Peter-Lukas Graf.
She has been living in Zurich for several years, where she studied law. In addition she dedicates herself to her other big passion, sailing, and intends to write a book about it, which has inspired the creation of sailing jewelry.
She's always in search of new exciting projects like actually Mahler's 4th Symphony with ballett, representing it on the stage, which should have been part of the Europe Festival pro ESOF 2020, that unfortunately had been canceled due to the Covid.

In addition to the projects that fell victim to Corona, there were some that were born out of Covid, such as the "covidistic" concerts 2021- Zurich/Basel (Bern Chamber Orchestra; violin soloists: Bartlomiej NIZIOL and Keisuke OKASAKI, both concert masters of the orchestra of the Opera Zurich), which attracted the attention of the EU Commission in the form of an invitation to the international podcast (January 2022).

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As a delegate of the SMV-USDAM (Swiss Musicians’ Union), she gave a lecture on the consequences of Covid at the University of Zurich in November 2022. On 14 December 2022, under the patronage of the Commission of the European Union, she organised as conductor a Peace Concert at the Milan Conservatory with the soloist (violin) Daniela Cammarano.

Also with a supportive accompanying letter from the Commission of the European Union, Gabriella Carli, as conductor, organised a Peace Concert in Brussels on 9 May 2023 with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra - Prague.

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In June 2023, she started a series of anti-stress music therapy sessions at the piano (Switzerland).
 

In 2023 on 21 December, Gabriella Carli conducted a Peace Concert in Lucerne organised by the 'Rise up again' Association with the orchestra 'Gruppo Strumentale Veneto - Gian Francesco Malipiero', Sebastiano Maria Vianello Mirabello (I. violin and soloist) and Tiziana Torneri (harp soloist).

Among the future projects is the opening concert of the Cultural Centre for Peace of "Emergency" (Gino Strada) in Venice and a concert in GORIZIA in the framework of GORIZIA 2025, Cultural Capital of the EU.