Ernesto Cortazar (1940–2004) was a contemporary classical composer and pianist.
He started his music career in Mexico at the age of 18 composing the background music for the motion picture La Risa de la Ciudad.
Since then, he has composed background music for more than 500 motion pictures.[1]
He also gained notoriety by topping the popularity on MP3.com - a leading music-sharing service, popular with independent musicians for promoting their work.[2]
He traveled to more than 25 countries to perform.
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Ernesto Cortazar II was born in Mexico City in 1940 into a family of composers.
Ernesto's father, Ernesto Cortazar Sr., was an accomplished composer respected in his field and was named president of the Society of Authors and Composers (SACM - Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de Mexico).
Orphaned at age 13, Ernesto continued with his intense studies by attending a music academy.
He played piano at bars, hotels, conventions and at the same time, studied with Maestro Gustavo César Carreón, one of Mexico's most important and recognized music industry performers and creatives. Carreón gave him his first opportunity to compose a song for the movie La Risa de la Ciudad and it became a smash hit in Latin America and Spain.
Ernesto's main musical composition for this film - piano piece titled "River of Dreams" - won the award for Best Background Music for a Latin American Film at The Cartagena Festival.
Since then, Ernesto has composed musical scores for more than 500 motion pictures.[5]
Ernesto traveled to more than 25 countries and performed his original compositions for political figures such as President of Argentina Carlos Menem, Nikita Khrushchev leader of the USSR and entertained at various prestigious venues including The Kremlin (USSR) and The Mexican Presidential House. Ernesto's performances were requested and enjoyed by many of Hollywood's biggest celebrities including Charlton Heston, Danny DeVito, Michael Bolton, Octavio Paz, and The Rolling Stones.
Ernesto Cortazar found even bigger fame being the #1 artist on the #1 music website in the world. Among 130,000 artists Ernesto lead the way with over 14,000,000 downloads to his compositions on MP3.com from 1999 to 2001 which would normally make one a multi-platinum artist by gold/platinum sales designation of the traditional music industry.[6] His sites were visited by more than 4,000,000 viewers.
Ernesto sold over 30,000 CDs to 69 countries including the U.S. without any record label, management company or agency.
He established a website community which is translated to English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and German.[7]
In 2001, Ernesto moved from Los Angeles to Tampico, Mexico to live his last years near his family, where he died in 2004.
His music legacy is continued by his two sons, Ernesto Cortazar III and Edgar Cortazar, who are successful songwriters on the Latin market.