Editing Sergio Ortega (composer) (section)

== Biography ==
Sergio Ortega Alvarado was born in [[Antofagasta]], Chile on February 2, 1938.<ref name="pressenza" /> He had brief studies of [[Architecture of Chile|Architecture]] and [[Literature of Chile|Literature]], until he entered the National Conservatory of the [[University of Chile]] and began to study composition with Roberto Falabella and [[Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt]].<ref name="cultura" /> After graduating, he worked at the Institute of Musical Extension and six years as a sound engineer at the Experimental Theater of the University, at the Antonio Varas Theater.<ref name="pressenza" />

During this period he composed music for theater and cinema. he composed music for works by Alejandro Sieveking and Isidora Aguirre, including ''Asunto sofisticado'' and ''La dama del canasto'', respectively.<ref name="musicapopular" /> In 1964, the filmmaker Pedro Chaskel heads the music project for the 1925 silent film, [[El Húsar de la Muerte|El Húsar de la muerte]] by Pedro Sienna, commissioned by Ortega himself, who made a special composition that was registered in the Hall of Honor of the [[University of Chile]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cineteca Universidad de Chile : Película : El Húsar de la muerte |url=http://collectiveaccess.cinetecavirtual.uchile.cl/cineteca/index.php/Detail/objects/2645 |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=collectiveaccess.cinetecavirtual.uchile.cl}}</ref> Later he composed the soundtrack of [[El Chacal de Nahueltoro]] in 1969 by filmmaker [[Miguel Littin]]. In 2001, he also composed a song for the film ''Taxi para tres''.<ref name="musicapopular" /> Ortega's music was based mainly on a typical [[classical music]] sound, full of [[Polyphony|polyphonies]] and [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonances]]. His colleague, [[Luis Advis]], also presented these characteristics within his music.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trovadores.net/lmveure.php?NM=4&PC=9 |title=LA NUEVA CANCIÓN CHILENA by José Manuel García |accessdate=2009-05-12 |publisher=Cancioneros.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205031644/http://www.trovadores.net/lmveure.php?NM=4 |archivedate=2007-02-05 }}</ref>

[[Pablo Neruda]] entrusted him with musicalizing the assembly of his translation of [[Romeo and Juliet]]. Later, he would ask her to compose the soundtrack for his only play, ''Fulgor y muerte de Joaquín Murieta'', premiered in 1967 at the Antonio Varas Theater, under the direction of Pedro Orthous. The work, which made a successful tour of Europe, tells the story of Joaquín Murieta, a Chilean gold prospector who comes to California in search of fortune. The story had already appeared in Neruda's books as the fourth episode of ''La barcarola''. However, Neruda writes the play, with characters, dialogues, script, etc. On December 14, 1998, the two-act opera ''Fulgor y muerte de Joaquín Murieta'', composed by him and with a libretto based on the homonymous work by Neruda, premiered at the [[Municipal Theatre of Santiago]].<ref name="cultura" />

In 1967, he worked with the singer-songwriter [[Víctor Jara]] in the musical arrangements of some of the songs on his self-titled album, at the same time he directed his orchestra that he accompanied on the tracks "El aparecido", "Solo" and "Así como hoy matan negros".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rodríguez |first=jorge |date=2014-12-21 |title=Víctor Jara: Víctor Jara (Odeon) (1967) {{!}} PERRERAC |url=https://perrerac.org/album/vctor-jara-vctor-jara-odeon-1967/1393/ |access-date=2023-07-04 |language=es}}</ref> Ortega was a member of the [[Communist Party of Chile]].<ref name="pressenza">{{cite web |last1=Goddard |first1=Margarita Labarca |title=Sergio Ortega y el pago de Chile |url=https://www.pressenza.com/es/2022/11/sergio-ortega-y-el-pago-de-chile/ |website=Pressenza |access-date=2 July 2023 |language=es-ES |date=3 November 2022}}</ref> He together with the singer-songwriter Victor Jara and the lyricist Claudio Iturra, he composed "[[Venceremos (song)|Venceremos]]" the electoral theme of the socialist president [[Salvador Allende]] and a world anthem of leftist movements.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Amorós |first=Mario |date=2023-05-18 |title=Songs for the revolution: Víctor Jara and his universal legacy |url=https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-05-18/songs-for-the-revolution-victor-jara-and-his-universal-legacy.html |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=EL PAÍS English |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="musicapopular" /> He composed the 1970 album by [[Inti-Illimani]], ''Canto al programa'', with contributions from Luis Advis and lyrics by Julio Rojas.<ref name="musicapopular">{{cite web |title=Sergio Ortega |url=https://www.musicapopular.cl/artista/sergio-ortega/ |website=MusicaPopular.cl |access-date=2 July 2023 |language=es}}</ref> He also worked on a musical version of Neruda's ''[[Canto General]]'' with Gustavo Becerra and the group Aparcoa, which was staged in 1970.<ref name="musicapopular" /> About three months before the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état]] against [[La Moneda]], he recorded "[[El pueblo unido jamás será vencido]]" together with the group [[Quilapayún]], a recognized worldwide protest anthem.<ref name="musicapopular" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=¿Dónde surgió "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido"? |url=http://www.americaeconomia.com/donde-surgio-el-pueblo-unido-jamas-sera-vencido |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=AméricaEconomía |language=es}}</ref> After the coup, he took refuge in the embassy of Panama. He then moved to France, where he would continue his musical career.<ref name="pressenza" /> 

In 1978, he composed and premiered at an Austrian festival, ''Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, 1810. Poema sonoro para el padre de mi patria''. For the celebration of the bicentennial of the French Revolution, Ortega worked on a praised operatic trilogy.<ref name="musicapopular" /> Ortega worked with his eldest son, [[Chañaral Ortega-Miranda]] (later member of the French faction of Quilapayún), on an operatic version of ''[[Pedro Páramo]]'', the novel by Mexican writer [[Juan Rulfo]].<ref name="musicapopular" />

In 1970, he began to direct the university's TV station, Channel 9, which he continued until 1973. In 1977 Ortega visited the USSR, participated in the festival "Red Carnation". He was given permission to return to Chile in 1983, and did so several times. During his exile, Ortega directed L'Ecole Nationale de Musique, in [[Pantin]], France. 

During the 30th anniversary of the Military Coup, he was diagnosed with advanced [[Pancreatic cancer]]. In September 2003, Sergio Ortega was already in a coma at the Saint Louis hospital in Paris. He died on September 15, at the age of 65, surrounded by his wife and their three sons. On the 27th of the same month, his remains would be buried in the [[Santiago General Cemetery|General Cemetery]]. The Workers' United Center, the Antonio Varas Theater and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile made official tributes. In the [[Municipal Theatre of Santiago|Municipal Theatre]], the choir led by Max Valdés, interpreted the final parts of ''Fulgor y muerte de Joaquín Murieta''.<ref name="musicapopular" />