GABRIELA ORTIZ TAKES THE HELM AT THE FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
THE 2025 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC( FCM) at Tanglewood promises to be one of the most memorable in the festival’ s history, thanks in large part to the leadership and presence of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz. Fresh off a landmark year in her career— including three Grammy ® wins for her genre-defying album Revolución diamantina, a celebrated residency at Carnegie Hall, and international acclaim for her musical works exploring gender violence, migration, and cultural identity— Ortiz is channeling her voice to curate one of classical music’ s most influential summer festivals.
PASSION AND PURPOSE
GABRIELA ORTIZ TAKES THE HELM AT THE FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
THE 2025 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC( FCM) at Tanglewood promises to be one of the most memorable in the festival’ s history, thanks in large part to the leadership and presence of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz. Fresh off a landmark year in her career— including three Grammy ® wins for her genre-defying album Revolución diamantina, a celebrated residency at Carnegie Hall, and international acclaim for her musical works exploring gender violence, migration, and cultural identity— Ortiz is channeling her voice to curate one of classical music’ s most influential summer festivals.
This year’ s FCM stretches across five days, from July 24 to 28, and once again affords Tanglewood Music Center( TMC) Fellows the opportunity to explore unfamiliar repertoire and experience the value of direct collaboration with living composers. As FCM director, Ortiz has built a program that amplifies her own music alongside Cuban, Mexican, Central American, and American composers, offering a bold reimagination of what contemporary music can sound like and stand for.“ One of the main points for me is to highlight the music of America as a whole continent,” Ortiz says.“ That includes all of Latin America— not just Mexico. We have amazing composers in countries that deserve to be heard, and that’ s not happening enough. Certainly not the way I’ d like it to.”
Ortiz’ s vision for FCM is unapologetically inclusive and proudly Latin American, positioning vibrant traditions and evolving soundscapes in a manner that highlight their roles in the global classical music conversation. She explains that many of the important European classical music festivals still focus on European schools of music, including spectralism, Darmstadt School, and established German and French composers from the European classical music canon. While
Ortiz is grateful to have studied those traditions and respects the artistic impact of those composers, she is proud to celebrate her own musical heritage with her programming choices.“ I didn’ t grow up in Europe,” she says.“ I grew up in Mexico City. My music and aesthetic are different.”
That key cultural difference is at the heart of Ortiz’ s programming for the festival, inspiring her to feature music that will explore transnational identities, cultural migration, feminist resistance, and the legacy of Latin America. The programming also emphasizes the tradition
80 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday August July 2025 2025 2023