Gabriela Ortiz facts for kids

Gabriela Ortiz (born in 1964) is a famous Mexican music teacher and composer. She will be the main composer at Carnegie Hall in 2025. Her music is played by groups in big cities like Berlin, London, Los Angeles, and New York.

Biography

Gabriela Ortiz Torres was born in Mexico City. Her parents were folk musicians, so she learned folk music at home. She later studied music in Paris at the Ecole Normale de Musique.

She came back to Mexico City because her mother was sick. There, she studied how to compose music with Mario Lavista at the National Conservatory of Music. She continued her studies at the Guildhall School with Robert Saxton. Then, she studied with Simon Emmerson at the University of London, where she earned her PhD in 1996.

After finishing her studies, Gabriela Ortiz started teaching. She worked at the National School of Music at the National Autonomous University in Mexico City. She also taught at Indiana University in the United States. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra has asked her to create several pieces, including the violin concerto Altar de Cuerda (2021-22).

Her Music Style

Ortiz uses traditional ways of writing music in her compositions. Her music mixes different styles like modern sounds, rock, African, and Afro-Cuban influences. She has also created pieces that use experimental electro-acoustic elements. This means she sometimes uses electronic sounds and recordings in her music.

Awards and Honors

Gabriela Ortiz has received many important awards and honors for her work:

• Civitella Ranieri Artistic Residency
• John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
• Fulbright Fellowship
• Distincion Universidad Nacional
• First prize of the Silvestre Revueltas National Chamber Music Competition
• First Prize at the Alicia Urreta Composition Competition
• Composers Award Mexican Council for the Arts and Culture
• National Artists System Fellowship from the Mexican Council for the Arts and Culture
• Banff Center for the Arts Residency
• Inroads Commission, a Program of Arts International with funds from the Ford Foundation
• Rockefeller Foundation
• Mozart Medal Award for Mexican Theatre and Music as the best composer of 1997
• The Fundacion Cultural Bancomer Award

Selected Works

Here are some of the musical pieces Gabriela Ortiz has composed:

Dance scores

• Hacia La Deriva (1989)
• Eve and All the Rest (1991)
• Errant maneuvers (1993)

Orchestral Music

• Patios (1989)
• Concierta candela (1993) for solo percussion and orchestra
• Altar de Neón (1995) for percussion quartet and chamber orchestra
• Zocalo-Bastilla (1996) for violin, percussion, and orchestra
• Zocalo Tropical (1998) for flute, percussion, and orchestra
• Altar de Piedra (2002) for percussion and orchestra, asked for by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Altar de Fuego (2010) for orchestra
• Altar de Viento (2015) for flute and orchestra
• Hominum — Concerto for Orchestra (2016)
• Téenek — Invenciones de Territorio (2017) for orchestra, asked for by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Yanga (2019) for percussion quartet, chorus, and orchestra, asked for by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Clara (2021) for orchestra, asked for by the New York Philharmonic
• Altar de Cuerda (2021) violin concerto, asked for by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Kauyumari (2021) for orchestra, asked for by the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Opera

• Unicamente La Verdad (2010), with words by Ruben Ortiz

Electro-acoustic Music

• Magna Sin (1992) for steel drum and tape
• 5 Micro Etudes (1992) for tape
• Things Like That Happened (1994) for cello and tape
• El Trompo (1994) for vibraphone and tape
• Altar de Muertos (1996) for string quartet and tape

Other Works

• 100 Watts (1998) for clarinet, bassoon, piano
• Baalkah (1999) for soprano and string quartet
• Seis piezas a Violeta (2002) for string quartet and piano
• Corporea (2014) for mixed chamber group, asked for by San Francisco Contemporary Music Players

Recordings

Here are some albums that feature Gabriela Ortiz's music:

• Musica Sinfonica Mexicana (1997)
• Ritmicas (1997)
• Mi Chelada (2000)
• Visiones Panamericanas (2002)
• Tear (2003)
• Altar de Muertos (2005)
• Aroma Foliando (2013)
• Denibée (2014)
• Revolución diamantina (2024) with the Los Angeles Philharmonic

See also

In Spanish: Gabriela Ortiz para niños