Performance Today has selected Grammy-winning and Latin Grammy-winning composer Gabriela Ortiz as the 2026 Classical Woman of the Year. This prestigious title is awarded to exceptional women who have made significant contributions to the world of classical music and who provide inspiration for our listeners.
"Performance Today is honored to name Gabriela Ortiz as Classical Woman of the Year,” said Valerie Kahler, host of the program. “Many composers can illustrate a scene, a painting to be admired at arm’s length. Ortiz catapults us into the music. We are floating weightless in the turquoise waters of a cenote, catching the scent of incense from an open-air chapel, or seeing the jungle through the eyes of an endangered Mexican jaguar. Her music pulses with the rhythms of Mexico: its landscapes, history, and traditions.
“Ortiz’s work as an educator in Mexico and internationally is driven by a deep sense of gratitude for her own education and her desire to give back to her country and the next generation of composers."
In 2025, Ortiz’s portrait album Revolución diamantina, which was recorded by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, won three Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition for the title track. This recognition solidified her as a leading voice in contemporary classical music.
Dudamel, a longtime champion of Ortiz’s music, said, “Gabriela is one of the most talented composers in the world — not only in Mexico, not only in our continent — in the world. Her ability to bring colors, to bring rhythm and harmonies that connect with you, is something beautiful, something unique.”
Under Dudamel’s direction, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has commissioned and premiered seven works by Ortiz in recent years, including her ballet Revolución diamantina, the violin concerto Altar de Cuerda, and Kauyumari for orchestra.
Ortiz is a member of the Academy of the Arts and has been inducted into El Colegio Nacional, Mexico’s most esteemed circle of intellectuals. She is currently composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, and the Curtis Institute of Music. She also teaches composition at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, and her music is published by Boosey & Hawkes.
The recognition of Ortiz as the 2026 Classical Woman of the Year highlights not only Ortiz’s individual achievements, but also the importance of supporting and celebrating women in the arts.
Ortiz will be recognized on the March 30 episode of Performance Today, including a conversation with Kahler about her career and accomplishments.
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