Del Sol Featured Composer-
Gabriela Ortiz Torres

Gabriela Ortiz Torres was born in Mexico City, where she studied composition with 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. She currently teaches composition at the Mexican University of Mexico City. She is considered one of the best of the group of young Mexican composers that have worked towards building a personal musical language that could be based on both musical tradition and the avant-garde; that could combine high art, folk music or jazz in novel, sometimes precious and especially personal ways; and that could be both entertaining and immediate as well as profound and sophisticated. Ortiz Torres' music achieves a balance between highly organized structure and improvisatory spontaneity.