Jacob
Ormaza
Vera
Jacob Ormaza Vera is an Ecuadorian violinist born in Guayaquil. Mr. Ormaza has been a soloist of all the professional orchestras in Ecuador (Cuenca, Guayaquil, Loja and Quito), having played concerti by Beethoven, Dvorak, Lalo, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Sibelius and Vieuxtemps. Besides, Jacob has won several first prizes in his native Ecuador and international competitions in Lithuania and The Netherlands. He is currently playing as a member of the 1st violin section of the Staatsorchester Stuttgart.
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Mr. Ormaza has received masterclasses from Donald Weilerstein (USA), Leon Spierer (Argentina), Otto Derolez (Belgium), Christoph Wyneken (Germany), Tim Vogler (Germany) and Eckart Runge (Germany). Jacob has been mentored by members of the leading string quartets of the recent years, like Heime Müller (Artemis Quartett), Raphael Merlin (Quatour Ebene) and Dirk Mommertz (Faure Quartett). Along with his younger brother Aarón, Jacob has appeared in concert venues across Ecuador and The Netherlands. Future engagements are bringing the Duo Ormaza to France and Germany.
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As an orchestral musician, Jacob was a member of the Orchestra of the Americas for a number of seasons. In addition, he has been part of the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra (2018-2021), as well as a guest of the Munich Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Bochumer Symphoniker and Kölner Kammerorchester.
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Jacob's inmense affinity for teaching has led him to be part of numerous educational projects. In 2013-2014 he was part of the Global Leaders Program of the YOA, involving him in projects with the Sejong Center of Arts in Korea and the Seongnam Center of Arts, where he coached local young musicians. Since 2021 Mr. Ormaza has been teaching students through Fundación Azteca (México), Fundación Batuta (Colombia) and Fundación Alza Alza (Ecuador). One of Jacob's main ambitions is to inspire the coming generations of musicians from Ecuador, a project he has been leading with his brothers through Clases Maestras Guayaquil.
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Mr. Ormaza currently plays a violin made by Philipp Augustin (2019) thanks to a generous contribution from the Anja Fichte Sitiftung. He also plays a Nicolaus Gagliano (circa 1740) which was given to him on loan by the Barniol Family in Ecuador.
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He obtained his Bachelor degree, with Magna Cum Laude distinction, from the “Espiritu Santo” University with Ivan Fabre, current concertmaster of the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra. He continued his studies at the Musikhochschule Lübeck with Prof. Maria Egelhof, and chamber music with Prof. Heime Müller. He obtained his Master Degree from the Hochschule für Musik und Theather München, where he studied with Prof. Lena Neudaer. During the last years, Jacob has been greatly influenced by Prof. Christoph Poppen.
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During his studies in Germany, he has received scholarships from the Anja Fichte Stiftung (Germany), “Sociedad Fondo Jovenes Talentos” Foundation (Ecuador), and the Marie-Luise Imbusch Stiftung (Germany).