Cristina Ortiz was born in Bahia, Brazil, on 17 April 1950 and began her studies there before moving to France to work with Magda Tagliaferro. Soon after finishing in Paris she won first prize at the third Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, then continued with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. She married Jasper Parrott in 1974 and has lived in London since.

She has been a soloist with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Philharmonia, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Concertgebouw, the Cleveland Orchestra and the NHK Symphony, working with Ashkenazy, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons and David Zinman, and has recorded for EMI, Decca, BIS, Collins and Intrada. Winning the Van Cliburn while still a student in Paris took her straight from Magda Tagliaferro’s class to an international concert career, and she went on to study with Rudolf Serkin only afterwards. She gives masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at Juilliard.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ortiz
• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3278093