Gerd Hermann Ortler

Gerd Hermann Ortler was born in 1983 in South Tyrol (Italy).

He studied saxophone at the "Konservatorium Wien Private University" and jazz composition at the

"University of Music and Dramatic Arts Graz" with Ed Partyka. He also received composition lessons from

Bob Brookmeyer.

Ortler lives in Vienna and works as a composer, conductor and arranger for various ensembles and

institutions in the international jazz and classical music field.

He worked with the Wiener KammerOrchester, HR Big Band, HR Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Metropole

Orchestra, Joshua Redman, Aaron Goldberg, Gregory Hutchinson, Reuben Rogers, Paolo Fresu, Jim Black,

Hamilton de Holanda, Gary Lucas, Wolfgang Puschnig, Wiener Posaunenensemble, Lucerne Jazz

Orchestra, Phil-Blech, Wiener Konzerthaus, Jazzwerkstatt Vienna, Südtirol Jazz Festival, Transart Festival

and many more.

Gerd Hermann Ortler is the founder and conductor of the GHO Orchestra, which performs his compositions

and consists of musicians from the international jazz scene, as well as musicians from major classical

orchestras. The debut album "Hermannology" was released in 2011. Furthermore, in 2011 the GHO

Orchestra was the stage band of the Viennese "Jazz & Music Club Porgy & Bess".

Gerd Hermann Ortler is a winner of the "DownBeat Student Music Award" awarded by the U.S. DownBeat

Magazine (2010 Winner / 2012 Outstanding Performance). In 2010 he was the only European musician to

receive this prize.

In addition, he also received a talent scholarship from the City of Graz and the State Scholarship for

Composition by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture.

Since 2012 Ortler teaches composition, arrangement and ensemble conducting at the "University of Music

and Performing Arts Vienna“.

In his compositions Ortler especially focuses on the development and processing of images and textures,

which he sets via a cross-genre musical language into a narrative context, in order to break up sectorspecific

associations and expectations, and to bring elements of contemporary music and jazz together.