Gabriela Ortiz

From Wind Repertory Project
Gabriela Ortiz

Biography

Gabriela Ortiz Torres (b. 1964, Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican composer and educator.

Dr. Ortiz is the daughter of parents who were musicians in the famous folk music ensemble Los Folkloristas founded in 1966 to preserve and record the traditional music of Mexico and Latin America. She trained with the eminent composer Mario Lavista at the National Conservatory of Music and Federico Ibarra at the National University of Mexico. In 1990 she was awarded the British Council Fellowship to study in London with Robert Saxton at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1992 she received the University of Mexico scholarship to complete Ph.D. studies in electroacoustic music composition with Simon Emmerson at The City University in London.

Twice Latin Grammy-nominated Gabriela Ortiz is one of the foremost composers in Mexico. Although based in Mexico, her music is commissioned and performed all over the world. Her music has been commissioned and played by prestigious ensembles, soloists and orchestras such as Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa Pekka Salonen, Kroumata and Amadinda percussion ensembles, among others.

In 1994 she wrote the music for the choreographic work Errant Manoeuvres performed by the Emma Diamond Dance Company at the Merce Cunnigham Studio in New York, and in 1995 she completed the music score for the award winning film Frontierland produced and directed by Rubén Ortiz and Jessie Lerner. In 2000 she returned to film music with the music score for the Mexican film Por la Libre directed by Juan Carlos de Llaca.

Recent premieres include: Unicamente la verdad (her first opera) with Long Beach Opera, and Altar de Piedra for three percussion players, timpani and orchestra premiered in Europe by Amadinda percussion Quartet and The Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra under Zoltan Kocsis.

Ortiz has been honored with the National Prize for Arts and Literature, (the most important award for writers and artists given by the government of Mexico); The Mexican Academy of Arts, Civitella Ranieri Artistic Residency; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship; the Fulbright Fellowship; the First prize of the Silvestre Revueltas National Chamber Music Competition; and the Mozart Medal Award, among others.

She currently teaches composition at the Mexican University of Mexico City and as visiting faculty at Indiana University.


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