ALUMNX NEWS: Aruán Ortiz (MC ‘18) Receives 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship
Pianist, violist, composer, and VCFA MFA in Music Composition alumnx Aruán Ortiz (MC ‘18) was recently awarded a distinguished 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition from the Guggenheim Foundation.
The prestigious Guggenheim Foundation awards just under 200 grants to individuals living in the United States and Canada every year. Guggenheim Fellowships allow mid-career artists the time and funding to pursue the creation and expansion of new work.
Aruán Ortiz in recent years has been recognized with numerous awards including those such as the South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residency Grant (2021), the Jazz Coalition Commission Grant (2020), and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant (2019). Here’s what Aruán Ortiz had to say about this latest award and his supported work:
“I’m so thrilled to announce that I have been awarded the distinguished Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition 2024. I’m so honored to be in a class of many forward-thinking academics, artists, scientists, intellectuals, composers, dancers, writers, and researchers whose work has revolutionized this world.
I will be working on “Je renais de mes cendres,” a 45-minute pocket opera about the first and only Queen of Haiti, Maria-Louise Christophe, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of her arrival to Italy in 1824 after her turbulent exile from Haiti. The work will highlight the prominent role women played during the uprisings for independence in the Americas in the 19th century.
The text will be inspired by magic realism utilized by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier in his novel The Kingdom of This World about a half real, half imaginary character named Macandal who played a big role in the Haitian Revolution. However, this story will highlight the prominent role women played during that revolution and other uprisings for independence in the Americas in the 19th century, articulating many effective forms of resistance during their struggle.”
Support Aruán Ortiz and his upcoming work at www.aruan-ortiz.com and on Instagram @elfuriosojazz.