JOE OTT (SPAIN)

Cuban-Spanish guitarist, composer, educator and cultural promoter born in Havana. He began his music studies at the age of 7 and completed his Bachelor of Music degree with a gold title at the University of the Arts of Cuba, ISA in 2009. "‹ Pre-doctoral Diploma in Research of Hispanic Musical Heritage (2011) at the San Gerónimo University College in Havana. Master's Degree in Training Processes in the Teaching of the Arts (2013) from the University of the Arts of Cuba, ISA. Master's Degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the University of Alicante (2017). Master's Degree in Performance and Research of 20th Century Music from the Oscar Esplá Conservatory of Music in Alicante (2020). Ott has developed an intense work as a soloist and in chamber music, offering concerts in the main theaters and concert halls of Cuba as well as in various music festivals in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He has been awarded in several national and international competitions, among which the following stand out: - First prize in the Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition in Berlin (2019), - First prize at the FIG in Hanen (2019) - Second prize and public prize at the FIG in Castalla (2018) - First prize at the Heitor Villa-Lobos International Music Competition (2016) - Espiral Eterna Musician Award (2012), awarded at the IV Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival, performing with the Havana Chamber Orchestra under the direction of maestro Leo Brouwer. "‹ Since 2004 Ott has been linked to the teaching of his instrument. He was a professor for five years at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, where he taught the subjects of guitar history of the instrument, methodology of guitar teaching and directed the guitar orchestra at the same center. He worked at the National School of Arts in Cuba, as a guitar professor at the San Gregorio University of Portoviejo and at the Alter Musici Academy of Advanced Musical Studies in Alicante (2020-2021). "‹ Joe Ott leads the educational project ¨Guitarras por el Mundo¨, dedicated to teaching free guitar classes and courses in low-income communities. Hundreds of children and young people from various countries such as Haiti, Angola, Cuba, Ecuador and Spain have benefited from this project. In 2013 Ott premiered his first composition at the FIG in Monterrey and is dedicated to spreading the traditional repertoire and new pieces written for guitar, including in his repertoire works from the Renaissance to the 21st century. His guitar teachers include Alexis Méndez, Martin Pedreira, Joaquín Clerch, Manuel Barruecos, Ignacio Rodes, David Russell, Sergio Assad and Pepe Romero. He studied composition, harmony and counterpoint with the Cuban master Alfredo Diez Nieto.