Fabiola Muñoz Ortiz

Fabiola Muñoz Ortiz was born on September 30, 2003, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. At age 7, she received her first Puerto Rican Cuatro as a Christmas gift — a moment that marked the beginning of her musical journey. Shortly after, she joined the Dr. Francisco López Cruz Foundation, where she began formal training in Cuatro, solfège, and later Tiple, while also participating in summer camps exploring other instruments and folkloric dance. By age 9, she was performing publicly with the Foundation’s Clasescuatro.com group and studying under Javier Alicea, expanding her repertoire with works by Maso Rivera, Nieves Quintero, and Ladí.

In 2015, she was accepted into the Ramos Antonini Free School of Music in San Juan and joined the Conjunto Criollo led by renowned Cuatrista Maribel Delgado. That same year, she won a youth cuatristas competition and placed second island-wide. In 2016, she joined the ELMERA Jazz Ensemble under Professor David Rivera. At just 14, she became the only ninth-grade and female member of the group to travel to the Berklee High School Jazz Festival in Boston, where the ensemble earned first place in their category. Fabiola made history as the first to introduce the Puerto Rican Cuatro to the festival, receiving both the Judge’s Choice Award and the Outstanding Musicianship Award.

She returned in 2019, again earning the Outstanding Musicianship Award and helping the group place second. Her performance career includes appearances with Residente, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Adlan Cruz, and others. In 2020, despite the pandemic, she participated in virtual programs including Berklee’s “Five Week” summer program and a widely viewed holiday concert with Gilberto Santa Rosa that reached over one million views. In 2021, Fabiola graduated with High Honors from the Ramos Antonini School of Music, receiving several awards including the Medal in Puerto Rican Cuatro, the Rafael Hernández Medal for Popular Music, and the APAOSS Ricardo Morales Sáez Scholarship. She is currently pursuing a degree in Jazz and Caribbean Music at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico.