Venezuelan-American Cellist Sebastian Ortega completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the New England Conservatory under Paul Katz and Lluis Claret, respectively. He began studying the instrument at the Emil Friedman School in Caracas, Venezuela, and went on to study at the Latin American Violoncello Academy of El Sistema. In 2010, after moving to the United States, he began attending pre-college at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
Since September of 2023, Sebastian has been studying at the Zürcher Hochschule der Kunst with Professor Martina Schucan. He completed a Master’s in Performance in 2025, and is currently completing his Master’s of Specialized Performance in Orchestra. In this time, he has performed with a variety of ensembles in Zurich, including the Collegio Novum Zurich, and has been awarded second prize in the Kiwanis Chamber Music Competition in 2024. He is also a member of the Opus organization in Zurich, an initiative originating in Georgia which aims to bring classical music to a wider variety of spaces and audiences. Additionally, he is an advocate for community involvement through music, as seen in his participation in the Community Performances and Partnerships program at the New England Conservatory during his time there, which focuses on providing lessons to younger students within the Boston area, and organizing concerts which help a wider audience engage and understand classical music better.