Aruán Ortiz is a Guggenheim Fellow, Goddard Lieberson Fellow, Cuban composer, pianist, and violist who has shaped the international creative music scene for more than two decades. With more than 15 albums as a leader, including the acclaimed Créole Renaissance, his multidisciplinary work spans orchestral music, jazz, chamber opera, composition, and improvisation.
Blending European modernism with Afro-Cuban traditions, Aruán explores Afro-diasporic identity through avant-garde composition and creative practice. The New York Times has called him a “tonal provocateur,” while All About Jazz has praised him for “redefining what diasporic music can be in the 21st century.”
As an educator, Aruán offers masterclasses and workshops in the U.S. and Europe through cultural institutions, universities, and private settings. His teaching approach is an invitation to embark on a deeply personal journey of musical exploration. Focused on interdisciplinary forms and musical innovation, he helps students expand their technical and artistic boundaries through the integration of composition and improvisation in the creative process.
Aruán Ortiz is a Guggenheim Fellow, Goddard Lieberson Fellow, Cuban composer, pianist, and violist who has shaped the international creative music scene for more than two decades. With more than 15 albums as a leader, including the acclaimed Créole Renaissance, his multidisciplinary work spans orchestral music, jazz, chamber opera, composition, and improvisation.
Blending European modernism with Afro-Cuban traditions, Aruán explores Afro-diasporic identity through avant-garde composition and creative practice. The New York Times has called him a “tonal provocateur,” while All About Jazz has praised him for “redefining what diasporic music can be in the 21st century.”
As an educator, Aruán offers masterclasses and workshops in the U.S. and Europe through cultural institutions, universities, and private settings. His teaching approach is an invitation to embark on a deeply personal journey of musical exploration. Focused on interdisciplinary forms and musical innovation, he helps students expand their technical and artistic boundaries through the integration of composition and improvisation in the creative process.
Aruán brings the perspective of an internationally recognized composer, pianist, violist, and improviser into his teaching. With a practice spanning jazz, orchestral music, chamber opera, Afro-Cuban traditions, and avant-garde composition, he helps students expand their musical language through composition, improvisation, and interdisciplinary forms.
His teaching style is encouraging, exploratory, and calm, creating space for students to take creative risks without pressure. In private sessions, workshops, and masterclasses, he can shape the experience around the student or group, offering structured guidance while supporting personal expression, musical innovation, and creative discovery.
Private sessions, workshops, and masterclasses can take place online or at your location. Aruán tailors the experience to the student, group, or institution, adapting the focus, pace, and structure around the audience’s level, creative goals, and artistic interests.
964 Dean St, Brooklyn, NY, 11238 View Direction
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