Jesús Ortega Irusta

Guitarist and composer. He is one of the pillars of the Cuban guitar school. He has notable works to his credit such as Concertante, for the MW computer and magnetic tape and Danza del adolescente ingenuo, among others.

He entered the Municipal Conservatory of La Habana in 1953, where he studied solfège with Sofía Serpa; music theory with Nieves Blanco; harmony and music morphology with Serafín Pro; music pedagogy with Argeliers León; history and aesthetics of music with Edgardo Martín; cello with Antonio Mompó; counterpoint and composition with Harold Gramatges; guitar with Isaac Nicola, and completed them outside the Conservatory with Leo Brouwer, and master classes from Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia and Venezuelan Alirio Díaz.

He began his artistic career in 1956 and formed a guitar duo with Leo Brouwer. He began working as assistant professor to Isaac Nicola. In 1959 he was appointed director of the Music Band and director of the Art Department of the Eastern Army, advisor to the Department of Conservatories of the Ministry of Education, head of the Department of Concerts, Orchestras and Bands.

He was part of a chamber trio with Enrique Castro, flute and Osvaldo Cañizares, violin. In 1961 he was professor of chamber music and wind instrument ensemble practice at the Municipal Conservatory of La Habana; in 1968 he assumed the guitar chair and was appointed director of the school.

In 1974 he began working as a guitar professor at the National School of Art. In 1978 he joined the faculty of the Higher Institute of Art and since 1985 has directed its guitar department. He was part of a piano and guitar duo with Karelia Escalante and since 1995 with María del Henar Navarro.

Other work
He has made transcriptions for guitar of works written for the vihuela and the lute. Since its inception in 1982, he has been a member of the La Habana guitar competitions and festivals, and has given master classes in Canada, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Yugoslavia, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, France, Holland, Greece, USSR, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Martinique and Puerto Rico.

As a composer, Ortega created his first work in 1957: Danza del adolescente ingenuo, of which he made a version for wind quintet; during this period he carried out extensive work, together with Leo Brouwer, in disseminating guitar music through countless recitals, most organized by the Cine Club Visión, of which both were members. Among his works stands out Picassiana núm. 1, a work in which a multi-track magnetic tape, processed solely with acoustic guitar material, functions as a large orchestra over the live performance of a concertante guitar part.

He has also created for film and the way he has approached this work is analyzed by Leonardo Acosta, particularly in Tomás Gutiérrez Alea's film, Una pelea cubana contra los demonios. Before filming, its director, Gutiérrez Alea, discussed in detail with guitarist and composer Jesús Ortega about the incidental music of the film. It was necessary to conjecture and base itself on scarce historiographical data about what the more or less nomadic groups of the 17th century Cuban era could have played.

Ortega made an impeccable version of works by Gaspar Sanz for a group composed of vihuela, lute, recorder flute and three drums. It was an experience of great musicological interest and artistic quality, achieved after multiple rehearsals and recordings.

This work of musicalization carried out by Ortega was only possible because of his knowledge of the music of the 17th century Spanish vihuela player, Gaspar Sanz, whose works he has made excellent transcriptions of. Jesús Ortega has toured Mexico, Venezuela, Japan, Italy, France and the USSR. He directs the guitar ensemble Sonantas Habaneras.

Awards and recognition
He has been awarded decorations in Cuba and various countries of Europe and America.

"Alejo Carpentier" Medal, 2002
"Félix Varela" Order, 2004
National Prize for Artistic Teaching, 2005
In 1966 he was granted the Doctorate in Arts Honoris Causa by the Higher Institute of Art.

Works
Concertante, for the MW computer and magnetic tape
Danza del adolescente ingenuo, 1957
Two poems of struggle, for baritone, guitar, violin and cello, based on a text by José Martí
In Memoriam for Luis Escalante, for jazz orchestra
Picassiana núm. 1 Prelude, Points, Recitative and fugue.

He has been director, since 1995, of the Cuban guitar orchestra "Sonantas Habanera".

Upon turning 80 years old, the maestro expressed: "I studied guitar and cello, I graduated in both instruments but the guitar is the instrument that fills me artistically, a more complete instrument, it does not require accompaniment, its timbre is very rich, variable and varied, in terms of the execution of all elements, it is a small instrument but with many possibilities".

In an interview with Tiempo 21 he said: "The complete work of Sonatas Habaneras is mine, I created the Orchestra, the repertoire that is played has been prepared by me, whether the versions, the compositions are mine, all of that is me, right now it is my work, my work", emphasized this professional of the instrument who has given master classes in different countries and who admires the musical appreciation of the guitar in the Cuban nation either from the concerns of the legacy of great composers such as Pepe Sánchez to the adaptations that have been made of the work of well-known Cuban musicians such as Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés, among others.