Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz has been named Performance Today’s 2026 Classical Woman of the Year, a national recognition honoring her profound impact on contemporary classical music.

 

For the San Diego Symphony, this announcement resonates on a personal level.

 

Ortiz has built an ongoing artistic relationship with the orchestra over the years, with multiple performances of her works introducing audiences to a musical language that is rhythmically vital, culturally rooted, and strikingly original. Her music draws on influences ranging from Mexican folk traditions to contemporary and electroacoustic sound worlds, creating textures that feel both ancient and immediate.

 

 

This May, that relationship continues with the San Diego Symphony’s performance of her cello concerto Dzonot, a work that has quickly become one of the most celebrated compositions of the decade.

 

Named for the cenotes—sacred underground water systems of the Yucatán Peninsula—Dzonot explores themes of spirituality, ecology, and cultural memory. The concerto has already earned one of classical music’s highest honors, winning the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

 

At the center of this performance is cellist Alisa Weilerstein, the work’s commissioner and leading interpreter and champion. Weilerstein premiered and recorded Dzonot, helping to bring its richly evocative sound world to international audiences. Her deep connection to the piece makes each performance not just a presentation, but a lived, evolving collaboration between composer and performer.

 

Ortiz’s recent recognition comes amid a remarkable run of achievements. In addition to the Classical Woman of the Year honor, she has earned multiple Grammy Awards in consecutive years—an unprecedented distinction that underscores her position as one of the most important compositional voices of our time.

 

For San Diego audiences, Ortiz is more than an award-winning figure—she is a familiar artistic presence. The return of her music to the Jacobs Music Center stage this season offers a chance to celebrate her latest accolade and to experience firsthand the music that continues to redefine the contemporary orchestral landscape.

 

When Dzonot is performed May 9 and 10 at Jacobs Music Center, it will stand as a powerful reminder of an enduring partnership between composer, performer, and orchestra—and of the singular voice that Gabriela Ortiz brings to the world stage.