Aruán Ortiz was born and raised in Santiago de Cuba and was trained in classical piano and viola in Cuba, and in Spain under pianist and educator Cecilio Tieles. His classical studies marked his predilection for twentieth century composers like Maurice Ravel, Olivier Messiaen, Arnold Schoënberg, Gustav Mahler, and Paul Hindemith.

In 2002, he won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, studied with Danilo Perez, Joanne Brackeen, Charlie Banacos, Hal Crook and with the jazz legend Barry Harris.

Soon after he started to explore new approaches to Cuban and Latin American music mixed with avant-garde jazz, which lead him to record “Aruán Ortiz Trio, Vol.1” in 2003 (Ayva Música), an album that he composed, arranged and produced.

The following year he was offered a position as Assistant Professor of Afro-Cuban jazz ensembles at Berklee College of Music.

His work as a performer also developed during this period, touring with his projects and playing as a sideman with such distinguished jazz performers as Greg Osby, Wallace Roney, Ralph Peterson, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Cindy Blackman, Jeremy Pelt, David Gilmore, Roy Hargrove, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, among others. Critics also noticed Aruán’s work, and his recordings “Aruán Ortiz Trio, Vol. 1” and “Alameda” have been featured in major international jazz magazines such as Downbeat, Jazziz, JazzTimes, Jazz Podium (Germany), Jazz Hot (France), Jazz Life (Japan), and Jaç (Spain), with excellent reviews. Some examples “Jazz fans applaud, and novices mark your calendars. Aruán Ortiz, critically acclaimed Cuban pianist is a ‘must see’” (New York Post); “Original music that revealed an impressive approach to improvising and composing... giving positive meaning to the term intelligent design” (All About Jazz, New York, April 2006).

Aruán can be heard as a sideman in several recordings: “Junjo” by Esperanza Spalding, “If Only for One Night” by Wallace Roney, “Earchitecture” by Jure Pukl, “Solo Corazón” by Mark Weinstein, “Evocación” by Raynald Colom (Recording of the year in Spain, 2010), “Path to Sullivan Square” (featuring Terri Lyne Carrington and Wayne Krantz) by Russell Kirk, among many others.

Currently he has a busy schedule teaching and leading and producing several projects like the 9 piece ensemble Camerata Urbana, where he combines classical music with jazz and Afro-Cuban music, and The Quintet, featuring David Gilmore and Jeremy Pelt an eclectic contemporary jazz group. He also tours and performs with the Wallace Roney Quintet and with Terry Lyne Carrington.