Gabriela Ortiz

Latin Grammy–nominated Gabriela Ortiz is one of the foremost composers in Mexico today and one of the most vibrant musicians emerging on the international scene. Her musical language achieves an expressive synthesis of tradition and the avant-garde by combining high art, folk music, and jazz. Her music has been commissioned and performed all over the world by ensembles, soloists, and orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zoltan Kocsis, Carlos Miguel Prieto, the Kroumata and Amadinda Percussion Ensembles, the Kronos Quartet, Dawn Upshaw, Sarah Leonard, the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Pierre Amoyal, Southwest Chamber Music, the Tambuco Percussion Quartet, the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Simón Bolivar, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been honored with the National Prize for Arts and Literature, the most prestigious award for writers and artists granted by the Mexican government, and has been inducted into the Mexican Academy of the Arts. Born in Mexico City, she trained with Mario Lavista at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música and Federico Ibarra at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. 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 a scholarship from the UNAM to complete her PhD studies in electroacoustic music composition with Simon Emmerson at the City University in London. Ortiz currently teaches composition at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City and as a Visiting Professor at Indiana University.